Special Adventures
by 1358456
Summary: A story based on Pokémon Special the manga. As the Sinnoh and Unova Dex Holders meet their seniors and learn to work together and build intergenerational friendship, a new evil team plans to take over the world while another plans to destroy it... Completed! Preview for SA2 posted. Advertisement for SA2 posted.
1. The Package

**Basic Summary: As the Sinnoh Dex Holders meet their senior and learn to work together and strengthen intergenerational friendship, a new evil team plans to take over the world while another plans to destroy it.**

**Basic Explanation: This is a story based on Pokémon Special, the manga. It is set 1 year after Platinum arc but before the Sinnoh Dex Holders meet their seniors. I've heard rumors that the Platinum arc is two months (or two… something. Not years though) before the HGSS arc, so this story will also be after the HGSS arc. Though I do think that all 13 Dex Holders will meet during the Platinum arc, this story will ignore that.**

**The main pairings that occur eventually are as follows: Green & Blue, Gold & Crystal, Ruby & Sapphire, and Diamond & Platinum. Also implied: Red & Yellow. No Silver & Soul or Black & White.**

**There will be some attempts at humor here and there… do laugh. There will also be some… 'references' to other video games and movies and etc. See if you can find them all (for fun).**

**Continuing the 'tradition' from Special Events, this series will also feature MISCs every now and then.**

**MISC, or Miscellaneous Info of the Single Chapter, is basically "random info of the day" that covers all sorts of random stuff.**

**Important MISC recap (check Special Events for full details):**

**Ages, at end of year, Gold and Crystal as basis:**

**Red, Green, Blue: +4  
><strong>**Yellow, Silver: +1  
><strong>**Ruby, Sapphire: -1  
><strong>**Emerald: -2  
><strong>**Platinum: -3  
><strong>**Diamond, Pearl: -4**

**Nicknames/Miscellaneous people's names: I'll follow Coronis's naming (Explotaro, Chaka, Courtney). If too many people complain, original (Bakutarou, Chamo, Kagari).**

**Swearing/Censoring: if tone is serious, then no censors. If not, various methods of censoring.**

**Currency: 200 PKD (Pokédollars) per 1 USD.**

**Original text: Diamond and Pearl will not address Platinum by her name. Platinum will not address Diamond as Dia. Gold refers to seniors as 'senior (name)'.**

**Distance & Travel: 6 hours per route by walking, 2 hours by bicycle, 30 minutes by vehicle, and 15 minutes by Fly.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: The Package<p>

New Bark Town, Johto…

Gold took a deep breath and stared at the pool table in front of him. He needed full focus, as his next shot would determine whether he broke his personal record or not. He calculated his options after moving around the table to examine different angles. Having found the perfect angle, he took aim and holding his breath, he prepared to take the shot…

Suddenly, he heard something smash with a loud thud, causing him to jump in surprise, accidently hitting the cue ball in the process. Gold watched in horror as his shot completely missed and fell pointlessly into the hole in the corner. Clenching his teeth, he adjusted his cap, gripped the billiard cue tight and jumped through the open windows to see what that smashing sound was about.

Outside, he saw his fence smashed, and someone was lying among the mess with a giant box on top of him. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the person was the youngster Joey.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Gold yelled, running over to him.

"Oh, hi Gold…" the youngster muttered as he moved the box off of him. He quickly got up and after a brief scan around him, looked at Gold with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry about the fence; it was an accident."

Gold stuck his billiard cue in the ground, grabbed Joey by the collar of his shirt and began to shake him furiously. "Why you! Do you realize what you've done?"

"I'm sorry for the fence! It… it was a nice fence!" '_And probably expensive too…_'

"I was about to beat my own record, damn it!" Gold yelled. "I had the shot lined perfectly, but you made me blow it!"

"Huh? … Oh, in pool? Uh… I'm sorry?"

Joey watched in horror as Gold pulled his cue out from the ground with a deadly glare. That cue was nearly indestructible, and if it was to be used as a weapon…

"H – Honestly, it was an accident! I was just helping someone move in, and the box was just a little too heavy for me! It made me lose balance… blame the owner of the box, not me!"

Gold's deadly glare disappeared, although he kept his grip on Joey's collar. "You're right; it's not your fault that you're frail. So where is he? He's going to have to pay for that perfect shot!"

At that time, Gold's Pokégear started to ring. Upon checking, he recognized the caller's number as Crystal's.

"Hey, Super Serious Gal! What's up?" As he listened, his expression and tone changed to 'complaining' (which he knew Crystal didn't like). "Oh, come on, Super Serious Gal! All the way to Olivine? … … Whoa, whoa, okay! Take it easy! Fine, I'll be there when I get there. … … Alright, alright! If it's such an _emergency_!" Gold hung up and shook his head. He turned to glare at Joey. "You're paying for that perfect shot when I return! … And the fence, too."

Once Gold left on his Mantine, Joey checked the damage of the fence. "What kind of fence smashes this easily?" he grumbled.

Upon closer inspection, he realized that the fence had already been broken and was barely standing in place before he crashed into it. He sighed and shook his head. It wasn't his fault that the fence smashed, but Gold probably wouldn't believe him…

…

Meanwhile, Berlitz Mansion, Sandgem Town, Sinnoh…

…

Sebastian, carrying a plate full of refreshments, approached the door of the room where the Lady and her father were. Before he could even open the door, he heard something shocking inside.

"WHAT?" he yelled as he barged into the room.

Lady Platinum Berlitz and Sir Berlitz both looked up at the old butler, confused for a brief moment. The heiress took another sip of tea and placed the cup on the table.

"I said, grandpa, that I shall be leaving on a journey to Kanto in a few minutes," she said calmly.

"All by yourself, my Lady? Without Sir Diamond or Sir Pearl?" asked the butler.

"Yes. They are probably busy and I do not wish to be a bother to them again." Platinum sighed. "I… have already tried to contact them, but they were not home."

"You're leaving on another perilous journey…" the butler muttered sadly. "Why, may I ask?"

The heiress smiled at the old butler's reaction. "Professor Rowan has granted me the task of collecting data of Pokémon in other regions to assist in his ongoing research. The professor suggested that I start with Kanto, and I shall." She looked at her Pokétch and realized that it was time for her to go. She grabbed her bag and got ready to leave.

"Well, have fun and be careful," said Sir Berlitz as he watched his daughter prepare to leave.

Platinum bowed to her father good-bye and headed outside. The old butler frantically tried to stall her for a while longer, but to no avail. After taking a deep breath of fresh air, the heiress stepped outside her mansion's boundaries. Since she was no longer in a cold environment, she had removed her winter attire.

After sending out her Rapidash, she gently jumped on and headed towards Canalave City, where she would take the ferry to Vermillion City. Although she was glad to get out of the mansion and travel again, she couldn't help but feel a little lonely, as she would be completely alone this time…

However, there was one thing she did look forward to. She had suspected that there was some hidden motive behind Professor Rowan's suggestion for her to collect data on Pokémon in other regions. She recalled hearing about someone else successfully gathering data on almost every Pokémon in the other regions, so it was rather pointless for her to do it again. So she figured that the real reason behind the professor's suggestion was hidden, and she hoped that upon arriving at Kanto, she would find out what.

Also, she recalled the Canalave Gym Leader Byron saying something about someone gathering all 8 Gym Badges within 80 days, and Platinum hoped that she would meet him while traveling through Kanto. Although Byron didn't specify what region (or anything about the person), the heiress knew that she would eventually gain information and be able to meet the person.

Upon arriving at the Canalave harbor next day (spent a night in Jubilife hotel), she purchased her ticket and searched for the ship that would take her to Vermillion City.

"SS Anne…" she muttered, looking at her ticket.

Before long, she found the ship she was looking for. It was a luxurious ship, and eager to explore it, she quickly boarded. Upon finding her cabin and ensuring that it was in good condition, she began to explore the ship.

…

Two days later…

…

The ship arrived in Vermillion City harbor and the heiress eagerly got off the ship and took a long look around. The environment of Kanto was certainly different than Sinnoh. The first thing she noticed was that the sun was a little too bright.

"Whew… it is much hotter here than Sinnoh." She loosened her scarf a little, and wondered whether she should have brought a parasol or something. She was going to send out her Rapidash, but decided to wait until she knew where she was going. From her bag, she pulled out a map book of Kanto that was provided to her by Professor Rowan to aid her in her travels. "There is a research center in Pallet Town. I should go there first…" she muttered. "According to this map, the shortest path would be to take the Diglett's Cave… I do wonder where this cave is…"

She flipped to the page with details on Vermillion City and examined the layout. Looking at the map carefully, she began to walk towards what she believed was east. She looked up to match the map with her surroundings just in time to see that she bumped into someone. Surprised, she quickly looked at the person she walked into. It was a girl several years older than her, and she seemed equally surprised.

"I – I am terribly sorry," the heiress said quickly.

The older girl simply looked at her. She seemed to examine her from head to toe, somewhat making her feel a little nervous. Upon meeting her gaze, the older girl smiled.

"It's okay," she said warmly.

"Um… Do you know where the Diglett's Cave is?" the heiress asked politely. "I seem to be lost…"

"The Diglett's Cave? Where do you plan to go? Viridian City?"

"Actually, I am going to Pallet Town. If there is another shortcut, I would highly appreciate it if you would tell me."

The older girl stared at her. "Pallet Town? Why? Are you going to meet Professor Oak?"

Platinum nodded. She didn't fully trust the older girl so she remained on guard.

"Are you Platinum Berlitz?"

"How do you know my name?" Platinum asked, steadily reaching for her Empoleon's Pokéball (should anything go wrong).

"Your father apparently didn't want to take any risks with you, so he urged Professor Rowan to urge Professor Oak to send me and… wherever he is… to find you and escort you safely to Pallet Town."

The heiress didn't lower her guard. "Prove it, please."

The older girl reached into her bag and began looking for something.

"Yo, Super Serious Gal, did you find the one we're looking for?" came someone's voice from behind.

The heiress turned around and saw an older boy on a skateboard and carrying what appeared to be a billiard cue. Platinum firmly grasped her Empoleon's Pokéball and prepared herself. The older girl sighed in exasperation.

"Yes, I found her. No thanks to you!" The older girl pulled out a Pokégear and called someone. "Hello? Professor Oak? The _package_ is here. I found the girl you were waiting for." With a smile, she looked at Platinum and gave her the Pokégear. "He wants to talk to you."

"Hello?" the heiress said to the Pokégear's receiver.

"Ah, you must be Platinum Berlitz," came the professor's familiar voice. "Welcome to Kanto."

Platinum had listened to the professor's radio talk shows a few times, and with her father, listened to discussions between the Kanto professor and Professor Rowan. As a result, despite the fact that she had never seen him in person, the heiress recognized the professor's voice. She smiled and dropped her guard.

"Hello, Professor Oak. It is an honor to finally speak with you."

"It's nice to hear from you too. Now, if you're able, then why not come visit my lab? I'd like to meet you in person."

"Of course, professor. I shall head to Pallet Town at once."

"Good. The two that I've sent will accompany you. They are your seniors, Platinum. Johto Dex Holders."

"They are?" the heiress exclaimed in shock. She glanced at her seniors (who were arguing with each other) with newfound respect.

"Yes. Talk to them. Get to know them. I'm sure it'll be a great new experience for you."

"I understand professor. Thank you very much."

Platinum returned the Pokégear to the older girl and bowed. Her two seniors stared at her in confusion.

"What's she doing?" said the older boy with the skateboard.

"I have heard from Professor Oak that you two are my seniors," Platinum said politely. "It is an honor to finally meet you. I am awfully sorry that I doubted you."

"Right, you're a Dex Holder too," said the older boy. "I forgot about that."

Platinum smiled. "I need something to address you by. Name, codename, anything is fine, so may I please know them?"

The older boy grinned. "Well then, I'll introduce myself. My name is Gold, from New Bark Town," he said. He pointed at the girl beside him. "This Super Serious Gal is Crystal."

Crystal smacked Gold in the back of the head. "First Ruby and Sapphire, and now Platinum…"

"Whoa, easy there, Super Serious Gal. You're too violent!"

Crystal grumbled as she turned to face Platinum. "Anyways, my name is Crystal, or in short, Crys."

The heiress smiled. "Understood. My name is Platinum Berlitz. I am an assistant to the authority on Pokémon evolution research, Professor Rowan, along with my father, and also a trainer of the Sinnoh region. And it is an honor to meet you, seniors Gold and Crystal."

"Nice to meet you too," Gold replied. "Anyways, let's get going. Faster we get to Pallet Town the better. I have stuff to do back home, you know."

…

Meanwhile, Viridian City Gym…

…

"No."

"Oh come on! It'll be fun!"

"… No… Why are you even here? Shouldn't you be with your long-lost parents, at _your_ house, not in my Gym?"

"Well, I felt bored, so I just thought that you and I could do something fun."

"Just because you're bored, it doesn't mean I am. If you didn't notice, I'm busy at the moment. Besides, if you're bored, you could either train like Red, or just sleep like Yellow. DON'T bother others. Furthermore, what exactly makes you think that I'd have fun by going with you?"

"At least _I'll_ be having fun."

"And that's supposed to motivate me?"

"Well, think of it this way. The longer you resist, less time you'll have on… whatever you're doing."

"… You win… … Pesky girl…"

"Alright then! Red's birthday is tomorrow, so I say we go shopping! According to my sources, he'll finish training in Mt. Silver later today, so he should be back tomorrow."

"Don't tell me _you're_ planning the birthday party…"

"You bet! Red wanted me to do it!"

…

_One week earlier…_

_Blue carefully landed on the grass after jumping off of her Wigglytuff outside Red's house. It was 3 am, so everyone was asleep. With an evil grin, she used Ditto to unlock the front door. But the door wasn't fully unlocked yet. There was another locking mechanism that could only be opened from the inside._

"_Hmm… he learned…" Blue muttered. She sent her Ditto inside the house through a small gap in the door so it could open the door from the inside. "But he still has much to learn."_

_Once the door was fully open, she crept inside, using the modified Silph Scope to see in the dark. She slowly crept to the living room and spotted a pile of invitation cards that were placed on the table; just what she was looking for. The cards were nothing special; a plain white card (or piece of paper, rather) with the guest's name on it, with a short message from Red, inviting the guest to his birthday party. The party had been Yellow's idea to begin with. Red just wanted to spend his birthday __**training**__. As a result, though he was inviting everyone, he really didn't have a reason to make the invitations fancy or whatever._

"_Boys…" Blue muttered silently with a sigh, scanning through the boring invitation cards. Upon finding hers, she quickly removed it from the pile and hid it in her bag._

_Now that she did what she came to do, she quietly left the house and shut the door. After using Ditto to lock the door from the inside so it appeared as if she never came, she used Wigglytuff to fly away._

…

_Morning…_

…

_Unaware of what happened earlier, Red came downstairs in his house after getting ready for the day. As Blue expected, he picked up the pile of invitation cards, and without double-checking them, headed for the door to mail the cards to the various recipients. But before he reached the door, someone rang the doorbell. He opened the door to find Blue outside, with a big smile._

"_Hey, Blue… what's up?" Red asked._

"_Well, I was just nearby and I was just wondering if you were doing anything…" Blue started with an innocent look. "… Hey, what are those?"_

"_These are just…" Red started when Blue snatched the pile of cards from him. "… invitation cards…"_

"_Oh, for your birthday? Let me see…" Blue smiled and she began scanning through the pile. "Professor Oak, Green, Gold, Yellow, Brock, Misty… …" She frowned when she scanned through the entire pile but didn't find hers. She scanned through the pile again, but didn't find her name again. "Hey… you're… not inviting me?"_

"_Huh? I thought I did…" Red said. He took the pile from Blue and scanned through them himself. He was shocked to find out that Blue was NOT one of the recipients… "Uh…"_

"_You're… not going to invite me to your birthday?" Blue asked with a hurt expression. "After all these years… I thought we were friends…"_

_Before Red could reply, Blue turned away, unable to suppress the oncoming tears._

"_I – I'm sorry, I must've lost the card or something… I made sure that I made one for you…"_

"_You're lying …"_

"_I'm sorry, but I really did invite you… I just don't know what happened…" Blue turned to face him with tears in her eyes. "I… err… … uh… … this is awkward… uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck, not knowing what to do._

"_At least tell me what you planned for the birthday…"_

"_Nothing much, really… It's just dinner with lots of other people…"_

"_That's it? … And you didn't invite me to that? … … Would you mind if __**I**__ planned your birthday party? Or do you not want me to do that either?"_

"_Well… uh… if it makes you feel better, then sure. You can plan the party."_

"_Thanks. That makes me feel much better. So… I'll see you in a few days, then…"_

"_Uh… yeah… See you then."_

_Blue turned away from Red and sent out her Wigglytuff. She waved a good-bye to Red and hopped on, flying back home to the Sevii Islands. Once Pallet Town was out of range, she burst into laughter. She almost couldn't do it, but in the end, she got exactly what she wanted… Even better, she got the perfect birthday gift for Red… But after the laughter, she sighed. She felt guilty for tricking one of her best friends again…_

_Meanwhile, Red mailed all of the invitation cards to various people all around and headed back home with a strange feeling. "Hmm… why do I get the feeling that I've been tricked?"_

…

Green looked at Blue with his eyes narrowed. There was no way that Red would willingly let her plan a party… Red had been a victim to several of her tricks, so Green figured that he got fooled again. How odd. He thought she had stopped with the tricks. She hadn't tricked anyone in over a year…

"I wonder why I doubt you…" he said with a sigh.

Green rose to his feet and checked that he had Machamp's Pokéball. Machamp was mandatory if he went shopping with Blue and didn't want sore arms.

…

Meanwhile, unknown location…

…

A man stopped walking a hundred meters away from a certain tall building. He pulled out a piece of paper and checked the address and directions written on it. Satisfied that he was going the right direction, he checked around himself to make sure that wasn't being followed. Satisfied again, he walked towards the tall building.

However, unbeknownst to him, there was a person sitting on a Starmie, floating high above his head, watching his every move…

* * *

><p><strong>There. First chapter is done. How is it? Awesome? Great? Good? Meh? Bad? Crap? Sh*t? Since this is just the beginning, expect more. Please review your questions, comments, and suggestions. For those who have readfollowed Special Events, expect some familiar events some time later.**

**By the way, youngster Joey is the very first non-rival trainer you fight in GSC, and in Pokémon Special, the assistant to Professor Elm. This is the same guy who Gold blamed for moving his satellite dish while listening to DJ Mary.**

**And yes, Starmies fly.**

**Read below after you've seen the 'MISC' in SE #024: The Set Up II.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been (1 of 2):<p>

Platinum slowly headed towards Canalave City on her Rapidash. She looked around the empty streets of Jubilife City, wondering where everyone was. She then looked at her bag and wondered about the package she was given. Professor Rowan had given her the package and said that it was very important, and that Professor Oak of Kanto was sending two people to make sure nothing happens to it.

Suddenly, her Rapidash was hit by a Sludge Bomb, knocking it down to the ground and poisoning it. Platinum quickly checked on her Pokémon, wondering what happened. She could see another Sludge Bomb aimed towards her and quickly sent her Empoleon to block the attack. The Empoleon was immune to Poison types and the heiress used the time to look at where the attackers were. To her surprise, the empty streets of Jubilife City were filled with rough looking people and their Pokémon, all looking at her.

Realizing that she couldn't possibly fight so many people, Platinum returned Rapidash to its Pokéball and began to run away. But before she got far, she tripped over something along with her Empoleon, and soon realized that it was Grass Knot. The heiress quickly returned her Empoleon to its Pokéball and tried to run again. Her knee hurt from the fall, but she kept running anyways.

She turned a corner and instantly felt someone's hand on her throat. Platinum realized that she ran into the boss of the attacking group, since this guy had a distinct looking white mask. The boss lifted the heiress by her throat and pushed her against a wall of a building. With the other hand, he took her bag.

Platinum tried to loosen the grip the boss had over her throat, but to no avail. Suddenly, a Pokéball flying at high speeds hit the wall right beside her head and bounced into the face of the boss, with enough power to shatter the plastic mask. From the Pokéball, a Typhlosion popped out and forcefully pushed the boss away from Platinum. The heiress took the time to quickly snatch her bag back and retreated behind the Typhlosion.

"Explotaro, Blast Burn!" came a voice from above…

(2 of 2)

Platinum flipped to the page with details on Vermillion City and examined the layout. Looking at the map carefully, she began to walk towards what she believed was east. She looked up to match the map with her surroundings just in time to see that she bumped into someone. Surprised, she quickly looked at the person she walked into. It was a girl several years older than her, and she seemed equally surprised. The older girl was wearing a white hat with a blue top and a red skirt.

"I – I am terribly sorry," the heiress said quickly.

The older girl simply looked at her, examining her from head to toe. The heiress felt a little nervous, and maybe she was imagining, but the older girl seemed to have an envious look on her face. Upon meeting her gaze, the older girl smiled.

"It's okay."

"Um… Do you know where the Diglett's Cave is?" the heiress asked politely. "I seem to be lost…"

"The Diglett's Cave? Where do you plan to go? Viridian City?"

"Actually, I am going to Pallet Town. If there is another shortcut, I would highly appreciate it if you would tell me."

The older girl stared at her. "Pallet Town? Okay, well…" She pointed to the right. "The Diglett's Cave is over there, but if you want to get to Pallet Town, maybe I can give you a lift."

She tossed a Pokéball into the air and a Wigglytuff came out from it. The Wigglytuff inflated itself and the older girl hopped on. Platinum stared at her, wondering whether she could trust her…


	2. Reveille

**Lots of reviews for The Package! Thank you all! … **_**Now do it again!**_

**MISC: hair color. There are no confusions with: Red (black), Green (brown), Blue (brown), Yellow (… yellow), Gold (black), Silver (red), Ruby (black), Sapphire (brown), Emerald (yellow), Diamond (black), Pearl (yellow), and Platinum (dark, dark, **_**dark**_** blue). According to volume covers and official artwork, Crystal's hair was dark brown for a short while, and changed back and forth between dark brown and dark blue. But in the actual manga, her hair appears to be black (because of black-and-white issues), or a very dark blue. If her hair was brown, then her hair should have the same color as Blue or Sapphire (or a few shades darker). Similarly, Black and White supposedly have brown hair. Yet, in the actual manga, they appear to have black hair. Or is it that their hair color is **_**just**_** dark enough to appear as black in the actual manga? Then again, doesn't White have the exactly the same hair color as Blue?**

**For both Special Events and Special Adventures, Crystal's hair will be dark, dark, **_**dark**_** blue, and both Black and White (whenever they appear in SE and **_**if**_** they appear in SA) will simply have 'dark' hair.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Reveille<p>

Diglett's Cave…

Crystal and Platinum followed Gold as he walked deeper into the cave. The goggled boy didn't really like the fact that he was left alone with two girls. Normally, he would like the idea, but when one of the girls was Crystal… things changed. Also, Platinum kept asking questions. As a result, Gold chose to walk ahead so that he may avoid overly long conversations. He could hear the two girls' voices talking constantly.

Platinum was busy asking Crystal of her past and her accomplishments. The Johto girl did her best to answer.

"So you have completed the Pokédex?" the heiress asked in surprise.

"Yes. Capturing just about every Pokémon isn't an easy job, but I managed."

Platinum clasped her hands together. "May I ask you to teach me?"

Crystal looked at her junior. "You… want me to teach you how to catch Pokémon?"

"I would highly appreciate it if you will. During my travels with my two friends, I… have failed in most of my attempts to capture a Pokémon," Platinum said. She sounded rather embarrassed.

Crystal smiled. "Sure, I guess. I think I can teach you whenever I have time."

"Thank you so much, senior!"

Gold listened as Crystal proceeded to explain all the stuff she went through. However, he noticed that the story wasn't really to his liking when she got to the part that involved other Dex Holders.

"Hey, Super Serious Gal, you left out the best part!" he protested.

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"You forgot about my heroism! As I recall, it was this genius (pointing to himself) who bravely and single-handedly stopped Lugia from blasting us to bits with Aeroblast!"

"Oh, please!" Crystal yelled. "Lugia smacked you out of the air so fast! It was a fluke that your cue ended up jamming its mouth!"

Gold grumbled while Crystal continued with the story. But the goggled boy interrupted once more.

"Hey, you didn't mention my heroic sacrifice! I chased Pryce deep into the Voids of Time all by myself!"

"Oh… well, I forgot about that. Besides, if it wasn't for everyone else, you wouldn't have succeeded! You're just trying to take all the glory."

"Super Serious Gal, I'm going to tell the next stories," Gold said. "Hey you, Sinnoh girl, get over here."

Platinum quickly ran towards Gold, who began to explain what he went through. To avoid repetition, he skipped the whole Mask of Ice incident and went straight to the Hoenn Battle Tower incident. But this time, Crystal didn't like the story.

"Hey! You left me out completely!" she yelled. "If I recall, I learned the ultimate move faster than you!"

Gold made no comments and simply continued with the story. By the time he got to the part with the fake Kyogre, Crystal interrupted again.

"You got knocked down by that thing too!" she yelled. "Besides, seeing how I went to fight that thing first, I lasted longer than you!"

"Super Serious Gal, do you not see me telling a story? Stop interrupting," Gold said in a serious tone. "Anyways, because of me, that fake Kyogre was distracted, and it gave time for the Hoenn guys to learn the ultimate moves. And together, we all blasted that thing to bits."

Gold moved on to the next story, and after he finished the story involving Team Rocket and Arceus, Crystal started to laugh.

"So, you left out the fact that Arceus was kicking your butt before Silver and I arrived? You know, from what I saw, you were being _toyed_ with."

Gold turned to face Crystal. "Well, you should be grateful that I left out the part where you got destroyed by that fat Rocket General until Silver arrived. Maybe you should spend some time training instead of just kicking Pokéballs."

Platinum watched as her two seniors got involved in another argument. She made a mental note to ask someone else for more… accurate information on the past events.

On the way out of the Diglett's Cave, Platinum ran ahead of her seniors to see the different environment. She had seen the harbor and ocean of Kanto (Vermillion City) and now the caves, and she wanted to see the grasslands. Then it happened…

Gold, who wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, walked out of the cave and straight past Platinum. He was trying to remember where exactly Pallet Town was relative to his position. And as he walked past Platinum, his right hand accidentally hit the heiress's bottom.

From the slight impact and the girl's gasp, Gold snapped out of his thoughts, and realizing what happened, quickly withdrew his hand. He couldn't help but snicker as he marveled at the coincidence of the positioning of his hand at that time.

Platinum looked horrified. She instantly remembered what Sebastian taught her a couple of years ago.

'_Protocol dictates that I kick the offender in his private parts between the legs and run while calling for help_,' the heiress thought. '_But… would that apply in this situation?_'

Crystal looked disgusted and infuriated. The last time she saw Gold do that, Silver was there to restrain him (by a well-placed punch to the face), but since no one else was here… The Johto girl ran towards Gold and without warning, kicked him in the back of the head. The goggled boy toppled to the ground, but soon got back up, with his hands on the back of his head.

"Ow, what the hell, Super Serious Gal?" he yelled.

"Shut up, you disgusting pervert!" Crystal yelled as she proceeded to kick him again.

"It was an accident! I was trying to remember what direction Pallet Town was, and I didn't see her there!"

"Yeah right! What's wrong with you?" the Johto girl screamed as she continued to kick Gold.

A few minutes later Crystal stopped with the kicks and Gold managed to get back up. The goggled boy grumbled that it was a lot better to fight Silver. At least he could hit back… He couldn't hit Crystal for quite a few reasons… Also, Crystal's kicks hurt a lot more than Silver's punches.

"Damn, Super Serious Gal… you should enter some sort of a fighting tournament," Gold grumbled. "If you practice hard enough, you could knock out people with one kick…"

"Now apologize to Platinum!" Crystal ordered.

"I told you it was an accident! If anything, she should apologize to me for standing there and causing the misunderstanding!"

"Why you!" Crystal yelled. She pretended to prepare to kick him between the legs, and as expected, Gold jumped back.

"Okay, okay! Sheesh! Do you have any idea how much that hurts?" Gold grumbled some more and turned to face Platinum. "I'm sorry that my hand accidentally hit you in the a-"

Crystal cleared her throat. Gold glared at her for a second before he rephrased his statement.

"I mean, I'm really sorry that I accidentally hit you in the _rear end_."

"I… um…" the heiress stammered. She didn't know what to say or what to do.

Gold grinned. "As a way of apologizing, how about I buy you dinner when we get to Viridian City?" To Platinum's horror, he took her hands and winked at her (Crystal couldn't see the wink as she was behind him). "Come with me and I'll make you happier than you could possibly imagine."

Seeing her junior's horrified expression, Crystal kicked Gold in the side of the head. "You call that an apology?" She grabbed the goggled boy by the ear and forced him to get back to his feet. She held on to his ear and made him face Platinum. "Platinum, kick him."

The heiress jumped in surprise. She wondered what she should do for a second before deciding to follow her senior's order. She clasped her hands together in front of her face and bowed slightly to Gold.

"I am terribly sorry senior," she mumbled out. "But protocol dictates action…"

Platinum shut her eyes and kicked. She opened her eyes again when she heard Gold groaning in pain. Realizing that she just kicked her senior in his groin with the _tip of her boot_, she hastily apologized and ran away. Crystal let go of Gold and quickly followed. The goggled boy dropped to the ground and tried all he could to ease the pain.

"Protocol? What is she? A machine?" he grumbled out. "Ohh… it's a damn good thing Super Serious Gal didn't kick me…" He sent out his Typhlosion and carefully climbed on top (more like lying on top face up so that the Typhlosion will carry him). "Don't run. Go slowly and carefully," he ordered. "Ohh… what exactly did I do to deserve this?" '_I will get you for this, Crys!_'

Meanwhile, Crystal successfully calmed her junior (who looked as if she was going to cry any moment) and slowly headed back to where she left Gold writhing. The Johto girl explained that the goggled boy doesn't mean anything, and that he always flirts.

"I think you kicked him a little too hard," Crystal said. "But he does deserve it."

By the time the girls caught up with Gold, he was halfway to Viridian City. Although the Typhlosion was going relatively slow, it was still faster than walking, so Crystal and Platinum had to run to catch up.

"About time," Gold grumbled.

Platinum bowed to her senior again. "I am awfully sorry for all this, senior… but protocol dictated my response."

Gold waved her off. "It's nothing… It was just an accident…"

Crystal crossed her arms. "I hope you learned your lesson."

Gold glared at her. "Don't kick me again, Crys. Or I _will_ be forced to defend myself," he said, gripping his billiard cue tight.

"So… how are you doing? That kick looked painful." Crystal felt sorry and regretted her decision to tell Platinum to kick Gold. '_I hope he doesn't give her a degrading nickname…_'

"How the hell do you think I'm doing?" Gold yelled. He winced at the pain coming from below and tried to calm down. "I could barely breathe a few minutes ago…" '_Hehehe… if I fake being in super serious pain, then I could have my revenge! Take that, guilty conscience! … It still hurts though…_' "Explotaro, keep going. I need to buy an ice pack ASAP."

…

Next day…

…

Gold, Crystal, and Platinum arrived at Pallet Town. Gold had stopped pretending to be in extreme pain but still appeared to be upset. The heiress felt sorry for kicking her senior. She apologized again, but Gold told her to forget about the whole incident.

Crystal sighed in relief as she realized that the end of the task was near. Gold didn't do anything last night (complaining about being in extreme pain), and as a result, she had to set up camp only for Gold to suggest at the very end to spend the night in a hotel. She couldn't do anything to him since he appeared to have difficulty walking. The sooner her task with Gold ended the better.

Platinum followed her two seniors as they led her towards Professor Oak's lab. The moment she saw the professor, the heiress bowed and excitedly ran up to him. Though she was feeling down from what happened with Gold, seeing the famous Professor Oak still excited her.

"Ah, so you're Platinum?" the professor asked. "I heard quite a lot about you from Professor Rowan."

"It is an honor to finally meet you, professor," the heiress said politely. "The region of Kanto is so nice, and Pallet Town is just beautiful."

"Enjoy it while you can. You can't stay in Kanto forever, after all. Now, do you know why exactly you came to Kanto?"

"Um… Professor Rowan had granted me the task of collecting data on Pokémon outside of the Sinnoh region, and he suggested that I start with Kanto. But senior Crystal had already completed the Pokédex, therefore I suspect that there is another reason for Professor Rowan sending me here. I would highly appreciate it if you would tell me, professor."

The professor smiled. "Professor Rowan had told me how smart you were. You already found out that the whole 'collecting data' was just an excuse. Very well. The actual reason for Professor Rowan sending you here was to allow you to meet your seniors and travel again. Your father would never have allowed such a thing, as it would have been too dangerous, in his view."

Platinum nodded. "Yes… father hired professional bodyguards during my last travels. But I am capable of defending myself now."

"I know. So, Platinum, now that you're here, feel free to travel around Kanto. Take on Gym Leaders if you want, and take this chance to meet all the other Dex Holders. I heard how much you value experience, and I'm sure that this will be a great new experience for you."

"Great. I'm done now," Gold said from behind to no one in particular. He turned around to leave but Professor Oak stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going, Gold?" the professor asked. "You still have a job to do."

"Huh? I was told that I only have to 'ensure the delivery of the package' when Super Serious Gal dragged me here. Now that the package is here, I don't have to stay."

The professor smiled. "Gold, along with Crystal, you are to accompany Platinum in her journey around Kanto. Make sure nothing happens to her."

"What? You mean… as a bodyguard?" Gold asked.

"Yes. She's the youngest daughter of the prestigious Berlitz family, therefore can easily be targeted for kidnapping. Though she can defend herself, it'll be a good experience for her to travel with her seniors, don't you think?"

"First you use me as a delivery boy, and now a bodyguard?" Gold asked angrily. "Why can't someone else do it? I'm very busy you know!"

"Trust me, Gold… I tried very hard to choose someone else… In order to make sure nothing bad happens, I have to send two Dex Holders. Of course I considered Red and Green to do it, but Green's busy with research and Red's… out of contact… again. Not to mention they tend to get carried away during battles… I don't want to distract Blue when she's with her parents, so the only options were you, Crys and Emerald. There's Yellow, but this is not her area of expertise."

"So… why me?"

"Well, I would like one of my assistants to remain and do other tasks, and since you weren't really doing anything important, I decided to send you and either Crys or Emerald. If I were to send Emerald with you, then… I fear the results… so I had to send you and Crys. And now that you're here, I'm assigning you another task. It won't be as bad as it sounds."

Gold looked at Crystal. "What do you think, Super Serious Gal?"

The Johto girl sighed. "Another task with you. How great could it _possibly_ be?"

"Gold, consider this. Right now, you're the best man for the job," said the professor, targeting the goggled boy's ego.

"Please, senior Gold. I would highly appreciate it if you would accompany me," Platinum added.

Gold grinned. "Well, since it's apparently a mission that only I can do…" He put a hand on Platinum's shoulder. "Let's get going then," he said. He turned and walked out of the lab. The heiress started to follow but Professor Oak stopped her.

"Ah wait," said the professor. "Platinum, do you still have the map Professor Rowan gave you?"

The heiress reached into her bag and withdrew the map. She gave the map to the professor. Professor Oak flipped to the page on Pallet Town and just as he expected, spotted a section that bulged out slightly. He carefully tore out the bulging section and a memory storage device dropped out.

"One of the real reasons for you coming here was to deliver this," he said, looking at Platinum. "For safety, Professor Rowan did not mail this or send an assistant, but rather covertly gave it to a Dex Holder."

"Professor, what is that for?" Platinum asked.

"You'll find out some day. I can't tell you yet," the professor replied.

Platinum glanced at Crystal. She didn't appear confused or surprised at all. Perhaps she knew what the storage device was for. The heiress made a mental note to ask her about the storage device when the time was right.

…

Viridian City…

…

Blue arrived at the city, with a big smile and a notepad filled with ideas for Red's birthday party. It was supposed to be just a dinner, but Blue changed it to an all-day event. And she had it all planned out perfectly. She had re-sent invitation cards to all the recipients, due to the change of the time of the party.

She quickly went to the Viridian Forest and dragged Yellow to Green's Gym, where all the items from yesterday's shopping were stored. She then forced them to carry all the shopping bags and took them straight towards Red's house so they could decorate. Since Yellow's Butterfree wasn't able to carry much weight, majority of the shopping bags ended up on Green's Charizard.

"Pesky girl… can't you do all this by yourself?" Green asked, upon arriving at Red's house.

"It'll take forever for me to do it all by myself, silly. I need help, and you're going to help me."

"… You're not annoying like most people… you're much worse in your own unique way…"

Although Yellow had similar thoughts, she didn't really mind, because it was for Red, after all.

Blue pushed her and Green into Red's house and gave them the sheet of paper with a layout of how she wanted the house to be decorated. There was a sentence written in big bold letters, saying: "**FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS, OR ELSE!**"

Blue stepped outside Red's house and looked at her notes. According to it, she was going to need more 'volunteers' to decorate the house. Silver was the only available 'volunteer' in close proximity, but she wasn't going to bother him. And besides, she already told him to meet her in Pallet Town at noon, when all the decorations would be done.

"Oh… I just need a few more people to help…" she muttered, putting her notes away. "If only there were a few people nearby who can help…"

Meanwhile, Gold, Crystal, and Platinum slowly headed towards Viridian City, beginning their journey around the Kanto region. On their way, they saw Blue lost in thought right outside Red's house.

"Eh? Isn't that…" Gold started.

"That's Blue… What's she doing here?" Crystal muttered.

Hearing her name, Blue turned around, and upon recognizing Gold and Crystal, an evil smirk appeared on her face. She quickly ran towards them.

"Haven't seen you guys in a while! I'm glad you're here! I need your help right now!" she said, grabbing both Gold and Crystal by their hands and dragging them towards Red's house. While being dragged, Gold managed to grab Platinum by her hand and dragged her as well.

"Wait, what do you need us for, and why?" Gold asked.

"I'm planning Red's birthday party and I need you guys to decorate his house! Now in you go!" Blue yelled. She cheerfully tossed all three into Red's house and shut the door.

Gold and Crystal looked at the instructions left by Blue, and upon reading the threat, sighed and joined Green and Yellow in decoration.

"First a delivery boy, then a bodyguard, and now an indoor home decorator? What am I, a slave?" Gold grumbled as he sloppily threw on some decorations here and there.

Crystal sighed as she re-decorated the areas Gold covered. "You know, Gold, it'll take much less time and effort if you stopped whining and worked properly…"

"Yeah, yeah, Super Serious Gal…"

Green turned around and noticed a girl sitting on a couch silently. "Who's this?"

"She's… uh… … err…" Gold turned to face Crystal. "… What's her name again?"

Crystal stuck a glued piece of colored paper onto Gold's face and turned to face Green. "Her name is Platinum Berlitz and she's one of the Sinnoh Dex Holders."

"Really?" Green turned to face Platinum. "That makes you one of us. I'm Green," he said, extending a hand.

Platinum jumped to her feet, shook his hand, and bowed. The heiress properly introduced herself and was introduced to Yellow, who was standing beside her. The heiress was excited to be introduced to so many of her seniors so quickly, and proceeded to ask about the others.

"Platinum, you'd probably want to talk to Red. He's coming in a few hours for his birthday, and we've all been forcefully shoved in his house to decorate by Blue. Since you wouldn't want to start off on the wrong foot with her, I'd suggest you start decorating," Green said, interrupting Platinum. "Once the birthday party begins we can talk then, alright? If we don't finish decorating in time, we're all doomed."

The heiress looked surprised for a second, but soon nodded. Rather disappointed and discouraged, she silently joined her seniors in decorating the house as per Blue's instructions. Noticing the awkward silence that followed, Crystal approached Green.

"I think you were a little too harsh," she whispered.

"Harsh?"

"She's just eager to learn and meet us. You could've been a little nicer."

"So what do you want me to do?" Green asked with a sigh. He never really dealt with girls who got discouraged so easily. Blue _never_ got discouraged, no matter how many times he told her to scram.

"Talk to her, maybe?"

Green thought for a second. "Fine." He walked towards Platinum. "Hey, come with me. Let's talk."

"But… what about the decorations?" the heiress asked.

Green turned to look at Gold and Crystal. "Gold, Crystal, take over. I'm going to have a talk with our newest junior here. Remember, if we don't finish decorating by the time Blue returns, we're all doomed. Now, Platinum, come. There's much for you to learn."

Platinum became excited and quickly followed her senior. Gold was not so excited.

"Way to go, Super Serious Gal. Thanks to you, we just lost two decorators, and now we have even more work to do. _Great _job." But seeing how Green wasn't there anymore, the goggled boy jumped onto the couch and lay down. "Yep. A great job indeed."

"Gold! Get back here and decorate!" Crystal yelled.

"Please, Super Serious Gal, I need my bruises to heal. I may have forgiven what's-her-name, but not you."

Outside, Green led Platinum to Route 1. He intended on having a practice battle, and decided that it was much better to cause a ruckus in the route, not in Pallet Town. After the battle, it would be easier to talk to Platinum (giving lessons, asking who trained her, and on and on).

"Have you talked to my grandfather yet?" Green asked.

"I beg your pardon?" the heiress asked back, confused.

"Professor Oak. Have you talked to him yet?"

"Oh, yes, I have. I am terribly sorry, senior. I was unaware that Professor Oak was your grandfather. It must be wonderful to have the great Professor Oak as your grandfather."

Green sighed. "It's not as great as you might think. Every time some evil team arises, one of the first things they do is attempt to kidnap my grandfather. Of course, you and your father are assistants to Professor Rowan, so similar things might happen to you too."

Platinum nodded. "Yes. Professor Rowan and my father have been kidnapped at one point. But the evil teams seem far more interested in kidnapping me. I… am afraid of what would happen to me."

Green turned to face his junior. He noticed the 8 Sinnoh Gym Badges pinned on her scarf.

"You have all 8 Sinnoh Gym Badges. You must be stronger than that," he said. "You're also a Dex Holder. Be proud and train yourself."

Platinum nodded politely. "Yes, senior."

Green looked around and saw a big open field. "Now then, how about a practice battle? I would like to see how strong you are."

The heiress clasped her hands together. "I would be honored if you would point out my flaws, senior!"

Excitedly, she reached into her bag for her Pokémon and ran over to the open field. Green checked his Pokémon and slowly walked after her.

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: You must be our new boss.

L: Yes.

D: Very good, sir. Anyways, welcome to SHADOWNET.

L: SHADOWNET? Is that what our organization is called? _Real _original.

D: Well sir, I find it better than Team Aqua or Magma or Plasma.

L: Fair enough. Does SHADOWNET mean anything?

D: Yes sir. Several Henchmen Among Distressed Overworked Workers' Network of Evil Teams.

L: … You're kidding. What _genius_ came up with that name?

D: I did, sir.

L: … That name _sucks_. And I thought Team Rocket sucked. This is _far_ worse! Seriously. _Change_ it.

D: But… sir, we already have our uniforms…

L: Fine. Keep the name, but lose the acronym. Change the name to just ShadowNet. Can you do that?

D: Yes sir.

L: Good. Now, the very first thing we're going to do is some scouting. Contact the other branches. If we don't have any branches, MAKE THEM. I need at least a branch for Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and the Sevii Islands.

D: Yes sir.

L: … Do we have other branches?

D: No sir. According to the survey, over half of our members haven't taken a single step in another region.

L: … That's going to be a problem. Send a group over to each of the other regions and get them to make the outer branches. Gather some willing recruits too. But be discrete.

D: Yes sir.

L: Once we gain enough information, we'll commence Operation: UPPERCUT.

D: Operation: UPPERCUT? What do we do? Uppercut everyone we see?

L: No, you idiot! It's a codename! You'll see later.

D: … May I know what the operation is about? Maybe a little information?

L: Think of the move Sky Uppercut, and that attack's characteristics.

D: … So we ARE going to uppercut everyone?

L: NO! … This conversation is over. … Great, I have a complete moron as an assistant…

D: You have a second assistant, sir?

L: …

D: Ow!

* * *

><p><strong>And thus, the second chapter is complete. Keep up with those reviews. More the better.<strong>

**In the last section, "L:" and "D:" are there to prevent confusion in who's speaking, though it's not that hard to tell based on what they're saying. Also, it's a slight reference to something else. Anyways, chapter 3 of Special Adventures, Arrival, is… not in the works yet. But I'll start soon.**


	3. Arrival

**MISC: Pokédex Order**** (edited after SA #004: Healthy Competition)****. Correct me if I'm wrong, but to my understanding, the order of Dex Holders go as: Green (1), Red (2), Blue (3), Yellow (4. Will be explained in Chapter 4), Silver (5), Gold (6. He wanted one because Silver had one), Crystal (7), Sapphire (8), Ruby (9), Emerald (10. There's a reason behind the 10 on his shirt, if you missed it), Platinum (11), Pearl (12), Diamond (13). Diamond and Pearl received the Pokédex pretty much at the same time, but from the direction of the Pokédex opening (the one Chimchar had opened forward. The one Turtwig had opened upward) and the panels that show the Pokédex registration, I assume Pearl got his a split-second first.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Arrival<p>

Green watched as Platinum sent out her Empoleon. For this battle, he would remain on defense and test his junior's offensive capabilities. With that in mind, he sent out his Scizor.

"Go first," he said, crossing his arms.

Platinum nodded and ordered a Hydro Pump. The Scizor quickly dodged and within a blink of an eye, stood right in front of Empoleon, clamping its two pincers menacingly. The heiress ordered another Hydro Pump, but her starter took a few steps backwards instead. Platinum quickly checked her Pokédex.

'_Scizors tend to intimidate enemies by swinging its eye-patterned pincers…_'

Platinum started to panic. She wanted to impress her senior with her battle capabilities, and having her strongest Pokémon intimidated wasn't a good start. Quickly regaining its pride, Empoleon used Hydro Pump, and managed to push the Scizor back. After a sigh of relief, the heiress ordered an Aqua Jet. But to her surprise, before her starter could even prepare for the move, her senior's Scizor charged forward and slammed its claw right into the Empoleon's face (Bullet Punch), knocking it off its feet. The Scizor jumped on top of the Empoleon and delivered a series of Bullet Punches before attempting to use X-Scissor.

But before the attack, Empoleon rammed its head onto the Scizor's face, forcing it to back off. Green felt a little disappointed. At the moment, Platinum didn't seem to know what she was doing. With a sigh, he returned his Scizor and sent out Charizard. Platinum recalled her Empoleon (which took a lot of damage despite type resistance) and sent out Lopunny.

Immediately, Platinum ordered a Dizzy Punch. The Lopunny charged straight for Charizard with its paw aimed for the face. But by the time the paw came close, the Charizard opened its mouth and delivered a Flamethrower at point blank range.

Platinum shrieked in surprise and began to panic as her Lopunny, burned, staggered backwards. But a thought arose and she had it use Healing Wish. Green wondered what she was doing when the Lopunny dropped. The heiress sent out her Empoleon again, which was at full power.

In the moment it took Green to figure out why the Empoleon was at full power, Platinum had ordered another Hydro Pump. The Charizard dodged the attack, but got hit by the following Blizzard.

'_Hmm… impressive,_' Green thought with a smile. '_But I wonder how she would respond to superior firepower…_'

The Charizard glanced at its trainer and received a nod. Before the Empoleon could follow up with another attack, the Charizard flew high up. Platinum ordered an Ice Beam. Green countered with…

"Blast Burn."

Platinum looked confused. '_Blast Burn? I have heard that move somewhere before… Could it be?_' "Full power Hydro Pump!"

The Charizard fired the ultimate attack as Empoleon used the strongest Hydro Pump it could muster.

Meanwhile, not too far away, Blue remained floating in the air on her Wigglytuff, lost in thought. Red was set to arrive in a few hours for his birthday, and… she was nervous. The only reason why she tricked him was because she didn't know what to give him for his birthday. Her original thought was to have him and Yellow to go off on a cruise, but she didn't think Red would enjoy it. She would save the idea for Yellow's birthday.

Now, Blue had tricked Red to let her plan the party. If she made it enjoyable enough, then perhaps it would make up for her not having a gift. Plus, in the process of tricking him, she found a possible gift for him… not necessarily a _gift_, though.

Blue sighed. She promised not to trick anyone, but… she just couldn't help it. She snapped out of her thought when she saw a familiar looking Charizard flying in the air. She started to worry when that Charizard unleashed Blast Burn at something on the ground. Blast Burn was not a move Green would use against ordinary trainers or challengers. He only used the move against enemies or Red, and seeing how Red wasn't anywhere near here… Blue quickly flew towards Green's Charizard.

By the time she arrived, Green had already recalled Charizard. Green had his hands in his pockets as he approached a younger girl who was kneeling beside her Empoleon.

"A good battle, Platinum," he said.

The heiress looked up at her senior. She noticed the expression on his face and knew that the battle wasn't 'good' at all. She returned her Pokémon and rose to her feet.

"I can see that you are disappointed, senior. Please tell me my flaws."

Blue hopped off her Wigglytuff and landed beside Green just as he was about to speak.

"Okay. That battle was slightly disappointing. I expected more from you. You were nervous, intimidated, and panicky. You didn't think clearly. The Healing Wish was clever, yes. But the moment you sent out Lopunny you had it charge straight towards Charizard. That was not a smart move. Even in the heat of battle, you need to remain calm and think." Green noticed that Platinum kept her gaze down and looked very depressed. '_Damn it…_' "You have potential. Work and train harder. Maybe battle the other Gym Leaders, and then we'll have another battle." The heiress nodded but still kept her gaze down. Green sighed and looked at Blue. "What do you want?"

"That was harsh," Blue said, crossing her arms.

"Harsh? You never said I was harsh all the other times I said it."

"No, I don't mean what you said to me. I'm used to that. I meant what you said to her."

Green sighed again. "Why does everyone say that I'm harsh? Let Red sugarcoat the criticism. Or you do it. Why don't you talk to her then?" He turned to Platinum. "Platinum, meet Blue. One of the Kanto Dex Holders. Blue, this is Platinum. A Sinnoh Dex Holder."

"Hello, senior…" the heiress said quietly with a bow. There was no enthusiasm in her voice anymore. She didn't make eye contact at all.

Blue put her hands on her junior's shoulders and glared at Green. The Gym Leader simply turned away and with Charizard, flew back to Viridian City.

…

Berlitz Mansion…

…

Sebastian sat on a chair and wondered how the Lady was doing. She hadn't called yet, and he was worried sick. When the phone rang, he jumped to his feet and ran to answer within two seconds.

"Hello?" came a male voice from the other line.

"Hello, you have reached the Berlitz Mansion. How may I help you?" the old butler asked, stifling his disappointment.

"Uh, this is Dia, (second voice: "With Pearl!"), and I was just wondering if I could talk to Lady Platinum Berlitz."

"Ah, Sir Diamond! I am pleased to speak with you again!" the old butler exclaimed. "But I am afraid that the Lady has left on a journey to Kanto."

"Kanto? All by herself?" came Pearl's voice from the phone.

"Yes, Sir Pearl. She believed that you were busy and she did not wish to bother you."

"Oh… uh… thank you," came Diamond's voice before he hung up.

…

Twinleaf Town…

…

Pearl crossed his arms and thought. "So Miss Lady went to Kanto, huh? Dia, what do you think?"

"Huh?"

"I say we go to Kanto. We did win 3 free boarding passes for the ship to Kanto in the last comedy festival. Sure, they didn't give us any return tickets, but we could figure that out later. Besides, we called Miss Lady to see if she wanted to go to Kanto with us. What do you say?"

"Sure, let's go to Kanto. But where are we going to find her?"

"Well, we want to surprise her with our visit, so we can't call her. But, I'm pretty sure that Miss Lady went to see the professor of Kanto first. So if we ask him, we might get an idea."

"Great. So… what do we do now?"

"Now, we pack up, and head to Canalave. I'll see you right in front of Route 201 within 20 minutes, or I'll fine you 10 million PKD."

…

Pallet Town…

…

"Senior, did I do something wrong?" Platinum asked quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Senior Green seems to dislike me."

Blue sighed. "Green was just being himself. Don't take it seriously." '_I warned that jerk about being… so much of a jerk! Now look what happened!_'

"But…"

"Listen, if I know Green at all, he probably wanted to see how strong you were. You didn't reach his expectations because they were set too high. The only other Dex Holder he battles regularly is Red, and you can't compare to him. In fact, you should be proud that he used Blast Burn against you."

"I wanted to impress him…" Platinum muttered. "But the battle ended too quickly and I ended up disappointing him."

"It could actually be better for you because you lost that quickly," Blue said after a short moment of thought.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Challenge him again. If you show significant improvement since the last battle, which wouldn't be hard, then he's going to train you. He already sees potential in you. Don't be so discouraged."

"If you say so, senior," the heiress said. She felt a lot better since the battle. "I think I know a way to withstand and possibly counter senior Green's Blast Burn," she said after a moment of thought.

"There you go. If you surprise him, he'll definitely be impressed."

"I probably will not be able to win, though," the heiress said.

"Don't feel bad," Blue said. "I can't beat him either. I think Red's the only one who can."

"May I ask you to tell me about my other seniors?"

"Sure. Including the ones you've already met, there are 10 in total," Blue said. She turned to look at Platinum, who had fished out a notepad and a pencil from her bag. "… What are you doing?"

"I believe that it will help me better acquaint myself with my seniors if I know about them, and to ensure that I do not forget anything, I shall write the information down."

Blue looked at her for a second before she smiled and continued. '_Wow, she's quite eager to learn._' "Okay, from Kanto, there are… Red, Green, myself, and Yellow. I can tell you all about the other three, but it'll be kind of embarrassing for me to tell you about myself," she said with a laugh. She sighed and added quietly. "And there are moments that I don't want to talk about."

Platinum wrote Red's name on top of a page directly below 'Kanto', flipped several pages and wrote Green's name. After doing such for the other two Kanto Dex Holders, she flipped a few more pages and wrote 'Johto' on top of a page.

Blue glanced at Platinum's notebook to see what she was writing and continued. "From Johto, there are Gold, Silver, and Crys. I can tell you all about Silver, but not the other two, I'm afraid. You'll need to ask someone else for them. From Hoenn, there are… I think their names were Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald. I don't know much about them either."

Platinum flipped back to the page with Red's name and prepared to write. But before Blue said anything, they arrived at Red's house.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Gold looked through the window while Crystal and Yellow were busy decorating.

"Crap, she's coming back!" he declared, spotting Blue walking towards the house.

"We're nowhere near done yet!" Crystal yelled back. "If you _helped_ us, maybe that would've been different!" Gold quickly ran and locked the door. Crystal sighed in exasperation. "Like that'll stop her!"

Blue was just about to talk about what the Kanto Dex Holders have been through when she tried to open the door. Noticing that it was locked, she sighed. She reached for her Ditto's Pokéball, but realized that she had left her Ditto (and just about all of her Pokémon except for Wigglytuff and Blastoise) inside the house (with the shopping bags).

Platinum watched in shock as her senior reached into her bag and withdrew two long metal pins, which she used to pick the lock. Within a minute, the lock was unlocked and the door opened. Platinum flipped over to Blue's page and under the heading 'My Own Experience', wrote down what she just saw.

"Hold on, Platinum. I'll talk to you after I take care of something," Blue said, glaring at the Johto Dex Holders (particularly Gold).

While Blue scolded Gold and Crystal for not decorating fast enough, Platinum wrote down what she had noticed about Green and the Johto Dex Holders. By the time she was done, Blue was sitting beside her on the couch, waiting. The older girl didn't look at what her junior was writing down under the 'My Own Experience' heading… yet, at least.

An hour later, once Blue had finished talking about what the Kanto Dex Holders have gone through, Green came back. Platinum saw him and rose to her feet. Blue noticed Green and pointed at the wall, telling him to get back to decorating the house. Platinum walked towards him.

"Senior, I wish to battle you again. Will you please accept my challenge?" she asked.

Green looked at her. "Of course. Any time you're ready."

The heiress bowed. "Thank you, senior. If you will excuse me, I will practice so that I do not disappoint you this time." With another bow, she left the house and sent out her Empoleon. She remembered the experience with Blast Burn quite clearly, and had come up with a plan to counter it.

Once the heiress left, Blue walked towards Green. She wanted to talk to him about Platinum and her talent. But before she could say much, the door opened and Silver entered.

"Sis, I saw Red flying to Viridian City on my way here. I can only guess that he wanted to buy something from the store," he said.

"What? Red's in Viridian right now?" Blue asked. '_This is Red, so he'll spend at most 3 minutes at the shop, and it'll take him around 15 minutes to get from Viridian to Pallet, so…_' She turned towards the Dex Holders currently decorating. "Hey, Red's going to be here within twenty minutes! So hurry up!"

"We're almost done!" Crystal said from the other side of the house.

Blue jumped to her feet and went to assist the others in decorating. By the time the decorations were complete, Platinum came back inside, reporting that she could see something flying towards Pallet Town.

"Everyone, hide!" Blue yelled. After shutting the lights off and locking the door, she took cover behind a couch while the other Dex Holders scattered. Silver and Green simply walked around a corner to 'hide' from the doorway.

Before long, the door handle started to rattle as someone tried to open the door. From her hiding place, Platinum nervously held her breath.

'_Senior Red… one of the first Dex Holders! If what senior Blue told me is completely true, then he is one of the strongest trainers in the world! I cannot wait to finally meet him!_'

With really high expectations, the heiress watched as the door started to open. When the door completely opened, Red stepped in. After he shut the door behind him, he lazily stretched instead of turning the lights on. As a result, Platinum could only see her senior's silhouette.

"Man, I'm tired… maybe I should take a nap before Blue gets here…" Red muttered, failing to notice all the decorations and sparkling things set up on the dark walls (even though faint light from the outside was making them sparkle).

He took off his coat and dropped it beside him before he finally turned the light on. He took a few steps towards the couch when-

"SURPRISE!" the hiding Dex Holders yelled as they popped out of their hiding places.

Red jumped back in surprise and ended up tripping over his coat. "Holy crap!"

"Happy birthday, Red!" Blue yelled.

The rest of the Dex Holders (except Green and Silver, who were still around the corner) started to sing the birthday song while Blue just grinned. Red, however, was not able to hear the birthday song, as he was busy ensuring that his heart was still intact.

Once the birthday song ended, Green and Silver came out of cover and greeted him. Yellow walked over towards him to help.

"Are you okay, Red?"

Red took a deep breath. "Yeah… yeah. I'm okay. You guys almost killed me, but that's alright…" He took a look around. "Hey, where's everyone else? And what did you do to my house?"

"We decorated it!" Blue said cheerfully. "And the other guests will be here in a few hours. Right now, the party only consists of Dex Holders."

Red rose to his feet and looked at all of the others. He looked at a goggled boy. "Hey, Gold."

"Yo senior, what's up?" Gold said with a short wave of his hand.

Red turned to look at a red haired boy. "… Silver, right?" Silver nodded. Next, Red looked at a girl with dark blue hair, wearing a white hat and a long red scarf. Platinum looked up at her senior expectantly, waiting for a chance to properly introduce herself. Red looked at her for a few seconds, trying to remember a name. "… Crys?"

Gold burst into laughter while the actual Crystal groaned. Green shook his head and Blue giggled.

"Um… senior Crystal would be over there," the heiress said, extending a hand to where Crystal was standing.

Red looked and saw the Johto girl with a hand over her face. "Oops. Sorry, Crys," he said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. '_How embarrassing… … Wait._' He turned to face the girl with the long red scarf. "Then who are you?"

"My name is Platinum Berlitz," Platinum started. "I am an assistant to the authority on Pokémon evolution research, Professor Rowan, along with my father, and also a trainer of the Sinnoh region."

"Really?" Red extended a hand to Platinum. "Nice to meet you, then. I'm Red."

The heiress excitedly shook his hand and bowed. "I have heard so much about you, senior! It is such an honor to finally meet you!"

"Whoa, easy there." '_This one's just like that other girl from… __that__ other region._' "So, what brings you here?" Red asked.

"I have begun my journey to travel in other regions, and I have started with Kanto," Platinum replied politely. "I have come to Pallet Town to meet Professor Oak, and now seniors Gold and Crystal are accompanying me around Kanto. We were simply passing by when senior Blue requested that we assist in decorating your house."

"Request? That's a nice way of saying it," Gold muttered. Crystal nodded.

"Anyways, Red, let's get on with your birthday!" Blue said. "Starting with… your birthday gifts!"

"Uh… okay."

Blue led every Dex Holder towards the dinner table where all the presents were stored. She hoped that Red would like the gifts…

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: I wanted to ask something, sir. How come we're not going to make a separate branch for Unova?

L: Leave that region alone. Those Team Plasma freaks are over there. Let them do whatever they want. After we take over the other regions and after Team Plasma falls, we'll take over Unova as well. Team Plasma will weaken the trainers and whatever in Unova for us.

D: A brilliant plan sir. … Then how come we're making a separate branch for all of the other regions? Isn't this our HQ? I don't see the reason for a separate branch in-

L: It'll confuse our enemies. They'll think that one of the region branches is our main HQ. No one will ever suspect that there's a hidden HQ somewhere in the same region!

D: Brilliant, sir. But then…

L: Each branch's HQ will overlook that region. The main HQ will overlook all the branch HQs.

D: Ah, now I understand.

…

/ / FRAGMENT 1/ERROR [RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED PRE-CATACLYSM]

J: And we're just going to let him do whatever he wants?

S: I've seen what he's planning on doing. He is of no concern to us.

J: But what if he succeeds?

S: He won't. Those meddling Dex Holders will stop him and his precious little ShadowNet. Besides, our two plans are not mutually exclusive.

J: I still think we should stop him before he does anything.

S: Relax. He's planning on something big that'll weaken those Dex Holders and their allies. Afterwards, we'll intervene. Also, ShadowNet will be making something that we'll be able to use. For now, we need him.

/ / FRAGMENT ENDS

…

* * *

><p><strong>And so ends #3 of Special Adventures.<strong>

**Note: some of the Pokémon's move sets are modified. Such as… Green's Scizor never really used any 4th Generation moves, now did it?**

**Keep up with those reviews. More the better. For the faithful reviewers, thank you. For those non-faithful reviewers, thanks. For those non-reviewers, REVIEW.**

**Platinum's notepad entries look like…**

**Kanto: (page 1)**

**Red:**

**Basic: (gender, hair color, eyes color, birthday, hometown, etc, partially filled)  
><strong>**Description from Others:  
><strong>**Blue: (what Blue says about Red, partially filled)  
><strong>**Green: (what Green says about Red, currently empty), etc.  
><strong>**Experiences: (what Red has been through, page 3, complete)  
><strong>**My Own Experience: (what Platinum herself noticed about Red, page 5, currently empty)**

**And so on with the rest of her seniors.**

**Read below after you've seen the 'MISC' in SE #024: The Set Up II.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Platinum listened to Blue as the Kanto girl described her experiences as a Dex Holder. The heiress was about to ask a question when the front door opened.

"Ah, Silver!" Blue said happily. "Come over here." Silver did as told and Blue put a hand on Platinum's shoulder. "Silver, meet Platinum. She's one of the Sinnoh Dex Holders."

Platinum gave a polite bow. "Hello, senior Silver."

But to her surprise, Silver glanced at her once before he looked at Blue. Platinum was shocked to realize that she had been completely and so rudely ignored. With a discouraged look, she took a step backwards away from Silver and Blue.

"Sis, I saw Red heading towards Viridian City on my way here. It won't be long before he comes here."

The news shocked Blue, and it caused her to forget about Platinum. "What? Red's in Viridian right now?" She turned towards the decorators. "Hey, hurry up! Red's coming!"

"We're almost done!" Crystal yelled from the other side of the house.

Blue quickly went to assist in the decorating while Platinum desperately tried to convince herself that she was only ignored because of the urgent news…


	4. Healthy Competition

**About the last MISC… people say that Yellow should be after Ruby. Technically, she never had her own Pokédex until the end of FRLG arc, and even then she received the obsolete version that once belonged to someone else (seriously, version I? That piece of sh*t?). However, in the Emerald arc, Sapphire states that there are 7 seniors, and Gold addresses Yellow as "senior Yellow (in the original text, at least)." Now, the term for senior (**先輩 **senpai) doesn't necessarily mean that the 'senior' is older. It literally means **先 **(first/early/things-along-that-line) **輩 **(group), or simply "someone who's been doing what you're doing for a longer time than you". Which means, when Gold addresses Yellow as senior, he means that Yellow's been a Dex Holder longer than he has. Thus, Yellow is #4. There are more of those clues in GSC arc and Emerald arc, but… this is enough. **

**In that regard, if/when Black and White meet the rest of the Dex Holders (assuming White gets a Pokédex version VII for some reason), even if they are older than Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum (which they probably are), they'll still be juniors to the Sinnoh trio. Which means that Platinum would address White as "junior White", which sounds ridiculous.**

**For Red and Green, it turns out I forgot about what Professor Oak said to Red after giving him the crappy version I Pokédex. He told Red to go to the Viridian Forest because that's where (trails off, but it's Green) is. By the time Red gets there and finds Green, he already has a Pokédex. Thus, Green is 1, Red is 2.**

**Extending that list of Dex Holders, I'd say Black 14, White 15 (perhaps. Every Dex Holder is named after a game, and every (main) game has a corresponding Dex Holder, so…), and eventually (probably) Gray 16. What else could possibly come after Black and White? Purple? We all know that the third game is coming some day.**

**Anyways, here's Chapter 4: Healthy Competition, like it says directly below.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Healthy Competition<p>

The Dex Holders all gathered near the dinner table where the gifts were placed. There wasn't much, but Red didn't really mind. First up, Yellow sheepishly walked over to Red, holding a rather big gift box behind her.

"Um… here," she stammered as he handed him her gift.

"Thanks, Yellow," Red said. He opened the box, revealing a complete set of winter clothes.

"Um… it's… it's really cold in Mt. Silver," Yellow muttered. "And I… I thought you could use them…"

"Wow, thanks," Red said as he examined a jacket. "It's really freezing up there. Thanks a lot."

Next, Green slowly walked towards his friend. "Red, the only thing I can give to you that you'll enjoy is a simple challenge. Not a practice battle, but a full-on battle. Like the one we had in the Pokémon League. You, me, one on one battle later today. How about it?"

Red grinned. "Now that's a hell of a gift! You're on!"

Blue sighed. '_Ah, Red… a battle is the best possible gift…_'

"But I'm a little tired today, and I think my Pokémon are too," Red said.

"Rest up, then. There's no sense in beating a weakened opponent," Green said. "Let me know whenever you're ready."

Gold and Crystal approached Red afterwards. Crystal handed him a small box, containing the latest model of the Pokégear.

"Since you don't really have your own, I thought this would be a nice gift," Crystal said.

"It's her idea. I bought it," Gold said from beside. Crystal glared at him. "Alright, I paid for half, and she paid the other half." Crystal still glared at him. "… Okay, she bought it. But I got the box! And that was an expensive box!"

Red examined the Pokégear. It looked quite expensive and sturdy. "Thanks you two." He pulled out his previous Pokégear and looked at it. "Well… I guess I could return this to Erika now. I never really used it anyways…"

Next and last, Blue rose to her feet. She casually walked towards Red and from behind, waved a piece of paper around his face. She leaned against his shoulder as he took the piece of paper.

"Surprise, Red," Blue said cheerfully. "That's the boring invitation card that was supposed to be sent to me."

Red stared at the invitation card, struck speechless. It took a few moments for him to understand what happened.

"So… I _did_ remember to invite you," he muttered. '_So she snuck into my house and stole this? When did that happen?_'

"Of course, silly! But my gift to you isn't that card, Red. It's your pride!"

Red turned to stare at her. "What?"

"Come on, you were acting nervous around me since last week because you thought that you forgot about me. You lost your pride, and now I'm giving it back!"

Red groaned. He put the invitation card back in his pocket and sighed. "Well… thanks, Blue." '_How is returning something she took from me a gift?_' He shook his head. "Well then, I guess that's everyone. So what n-"

Platinum timidly raised a hand. "Um… senior? I… I would like to give you a gift…"

"Huh? Uh… okay."

The heiress nervously reached into her bag and with both hands, presented an envelope to her senior. Red took the envelope and opened it.

"Whoa…" he muttered.

"Since I was unaware that today was your birthday, there was insufficient time for me to purchase a suitable gift," Platinum said. "I hope you appreciate the substitute…"

"200 000 PKD…" Red muttered. '_Damn, that's a lot of cash…_' "Thanks… … what was your name again?"

"It is Platinum, senior…" the heiress replied. She bowed slightly and returned to her seat.

"Way to go," Gold said. "Now all our gifts look like crap."

Yellow sighed. "Now my present doesn't seem important…"

Platinum saw the not-so-friendly looks she was receiving from some of her seniors and realized her mistake. '_Oh no… what have I done?_' "Please excuse me," she said before quickly leaving.

Noticing the awkward atmosphere, Blue led everyone to the living room so that the Dex Holders could play a game. The others also preferred to lighten the mood and all agreed.

…

A few minutes later…

…

Platinum sat on the floor of the room she was hiding in. She leaned against the door and berated herself for her mistake. She reached into her bag (which she still had) and withdrew her Pokégear. She dialed a series of numbers, and hoped that the person she was calling would pick up.

…

Route 201…

…

Diamond looked at his Pokégear.

"Hey Pearl, the Lady's calling."

"Don't answer, Dia. She'll probably ask where you are, and you're a horrible liar. Remember, we're going to surprise her with our visit."

Diamond looked at his Pokégear again before he hesitantly put it away.

…

Pallet Town…

…

Platinum sighed as she put her Pokégear away. She considered calling Pearl, but decided not to. Since Diamond and Pearl were always together, if Diamond was unable to answer the call, Pearl wouldn't be able to either. Also, the heiress only wanted to talk to Diamond, since his words tended to calm her down.

'_Oh, I am such a fool…_' she thought to herself. She could hear laughter from the outside and sighed again. '_I must apologize to each of my seniors…_' After taking a deep shuddering breath, the heiress slowly and quietly left her hiding place.

In the living room, Red was playing a board game with Green while Blue and Crystal engaged in a different board game. The others watched and cheered, and in some cases, distracted the players.

"Choose your move carefully, Crys," Blue said. "One mistake, and you know you can't beat me. And remember, the loser has to do whatever the winner says."

"Yes, I know!" the Johto girl replied. She picked up her stone and examined the board carefully. '_There! If I place a stone over there, I could trap a huge portion of Blue's stones, and…_'

"Hey, Super Serious Gal!" Gold suddenly yelled, just as Crystal was about to put her stone down. The Johto girl jumped in surprise, accidentally dropping the stone in the wrong place.

"No, no, no!" she shrieked.

"I warned you!" Blue said with a laugh. She placed her stone in a crucial spot, preventing Crystal from any further attacks. "Oh, come on, Crys! Don't tell me this is all you got!" she taunted.

The Johto girl turned to glare at Gold. "Gold! Look what you made me do!" She returned her focus to the game, trying to predict what Blue would do next.

"Um… senior?" came Platinum's voice from behind.

"Not now, Platinum, I'm busy!" Crystal yelled. She placed a stone in a crucial defensive position. "Whew… that's one threat gone…"

Silver examined the board carefully. He could see a flaw in Crystal's layout of her stones…

"Senior Silver?"

Silver leaned towards Blue and whispered into her ear. "Sis, if you place your stones over-"

"Hey, Silver! That's not fair!" Crystal yelled. "I'm already losing!"

Yellow took a glance at the Blue vs. Crystal game and continued to watch Red as he battled Green.

"Red, I know it's been a while since you last played, but…" the Gym Leader started. He moved his vehicle into an attack position. "This is just pathetic! You left your king completely defenseless!"

"Don't belittle me yet, my friend," Red replied. "What you see as a weakness could just be a trap!" He moved his catapult so that if Green's vehicle was to try to attack the king, the catapult would take the vehicle out instead.

"Um… senior Red?" came Platinum's voice from behind.

"Hm?"

Before Red could even turn to face his junior, Green smirked and took out Red's catapult with his elephant. Yellow sighed. She saw that one coming…

"Red, Red, Red… Surely that wasn't your trap?" the Gym Leader taunted. "Come now, that wasn't a trap! It was so blatantly obvious!"

Red stared at the game board. "The battle is _far_ from over!"

…

A few minutes later…

…

"… Okay, this battle is over," Red grumbled. '_Complete annihilation…_'

"Ha, you lost, Super Serious Gal!" Gold exclaimed from beside.

The 3 Kanto Dex Holders turned to examine the results of the Blue vs. Crystal game, and noticed that the Johto girl got thrashed. Crystal glared at Gold, fuming.

"Would it kill you to help me? This was more of a 3 on 1 game! Silver was helping Blue, and you were purposely distracting me! When I said 'distract', I meant distract _her_, not me!"

"Don't you know that cheating is wrong? You tried to cheat, so I penalized you. You still put up a good fight despite all that," the goggled boy said. He raised his bottle of soda into the air, as if offering Crystal a toast. But he forgot the fact that he had removed the lid a while ago… The moment the bottle reached the peak of its climb, the soda (quite a _lot_ of soda) spilled out of the bottle from the momentum and fell onto Crystal. "Oops… Uh oh…"

"GOLD!" Crystal screamed. The soda spilled onto her hat, soaking her hair. Grumbling, she rose to her feet. "Great. Now I have to wash my hair quickly before the sugar dries!" On her way to the bathroom, she 'accidentally' hit the soda bottle, pouring the drink all over Gold.

"Oh, that was just childish, Super Serious Gal!" Gold yelled. "What I did was an accident!" Unlike Crystal, however, the goggled boy simply took a paper towel to wipe the soda, not caring about the after-effects.

Crystal headed towards the bathroom and tried to open the door. Realizing that it was locked, she knocked. A second later, she could hear the sink turn on and some water splashing. Several seconds later, the door opened and Platinum came out.

"Platinum? What are you doing all alone?" Crystal asked. "Come join the…" she trailed off upon realizing something odd. She could see that her junior's eyes were red, and despite the heiress's best efforts to cover it up, the Johto girl could see what happened… Crystal gasped. "Were you crying?"

The heiress didn't reply and kept her head down. Crystal glanced around the corner at the living room. No one seems to have heard. She looked at her junior and pointed at an empty room.

"Hey, why don't you wait there for a little while? I'll be back really soon. I just need to wash something," she said.

The heiress didn't reply again and quietly entered the empty room. A few minutes later, Crystal entered the room, having thoroughly washed her hair clean of the soda. She found Platinum sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall. The Johto girl sat beside her tried to sound as nice as possible.

"Platinum, what's wrong?" she asked. "Come on, you can tell me," she said when she received no response. The heiress still didn't reply, but her lips started to quiver. Crystal looked with horror when tears started to fall from her junior's eyes. "Hold on, I'll get you some tissues."

Crystal quickly left the room and ran to get a box of tissues. But before returning to Platinum, she went to the other Dex Holders first.

"Blue, we have a problem here," she whispered, so that only Blue may hear.

"Huh? What do you mean?" the Kanto girl asked.

"Platinum's crying…"

Blue froze. "What? Why?"

"I don't know," Crystal replied. "We need to calm her down…" The Johto girl quickly headed towards the room where Platinum was.

Blue followed her junior, trying to think of a reason why the heiress would be crying. The moment she saw her sitting in the corner of the room all alone, a thought occurred.

'_Oh no… we completely neglected her all this time!_'

Blue sat beside Platinum and asked what was wrong. The heiress looked at her once before looking down at the floor again. She didn't reply, but started to sob. Her seniors continuously tried to get her to calm down, but after a minute, the heiress finally burst into tears.

"I – I wish I was home!" Platinum cried out. "I miss my friends, my family, a – and people who care about me!"

"Platinum… we care about you," Crystal said gently.

"I should not have come…" the heiress sobbed out. "I made too many mistakes… and now all of my seniors hate me!"

While Crystal desperately tried to calm her junior, Blue noticed that the heiress had her notepad on the floor beside her and reached for it. Platinum didn't bother to stop her. The Kanto girl flipped through the notepad. She noticed that under 'My Own Experience' for every Dex Holder present, the heiress had written 'Not as great as I expected' in big letters.

Blue rose to her feet and left the room. She needed to tell the others about this. But to her surprise, when the door opened, most of the others were waiting outside. They could all hear Platinum crying, and were wondering what was happening. Blue shut the door behind her and with a sigh, started to explain why Platinum was crying. The heiress was so enthusiastic about meeting her seniors, and even started to take notes on them. But since morning, she had been interrupted, glared at, and ignored by her seniors. She had been severely disappointed.

"In short," Blue said. "She thinks she came all this way from Sinnoh just to be hated, and she thinks it's her fault."

Red started to rub the back of his neck. "Oh… damn. That's not good."

"She wants to go home. I have no doubt that she'll head to Vermillion City the moment she leaves this house. We can't let her do that. If she goes back home now, we'll lose her forever."

Suddenly, the door opened from behind and Crystal appeared with Platinum behind her.

"She wants to say something to all of you," the Johto girl said. She stepped aside and the heiress took a few steps towards her seniors.

"I… I would just like to apologize for everything…" she muttered out quietly. She looked up at Red for a split second. "Senior Red, I am terribly sorry… I did not wish to ruin your birthday."

"Too late for that," Gold muttered. He froze when Platinum burst into tears again. '_I probably shouldn't have said that…_'

"Gold! You're not helping!" Crystal yelled. She grabbed Gold by his ear and dragged him away. "What's wrong with you?"

…

Route 201, near Sandgem Town…

…

Diamond felt something odd. Something… didn't seem right. Platinum had tried to call him many times, and as per Pearl's suggestion, he didn't answer. But looking at the 15 missed calls on his Pokégear, Diamond couldn't help but think that Platinum needed him and he was ignoring her… He wished that he could get to her faster, but unfortunately, he didn't have a Pokémon that could use Fly. Neither did Pearl. ETA to the professor in Kanto was 4 days, and he hoped that Platinum would remain nearby…

…

Pallet Town…

…

The other Dex Holders sat in silence while Platinum was in the bathroom. The heiress noticed the mood of the birthday party, and in order to lighten the mood, she needed to stop crying. And to help with that, she chose to wash her face with cold water.

Blue sat beside Red with a sigh. "Red, this isn't what I planned for your party," she started.

"I know."

"I'm sorry," Blue said quietly. "The only reason why I tricked you was so that I could plan the party. I… didn't know what to get you for your birthday, so the least I could do was make your birthday enjoyable. I thought it would be a little weird if I just asked you whether I could plan your party, and…"

"It's okay, Blue," Red said. "Besides, it's nothing compared to what you did to me the first time we met."

A few seconds later, Platinum came back out. She wasn't crying anymore, but still sniffled occasionally and looked crestfallen. She sat on the empty seat that was saved for her and took a deep shuddering breath.

"Hey, why don't you tell us about your friends?" Blue suggested. She figured getting Platinum to talk about various things would help lighten the mood.

"… I only have two friends," the heiress said quietly. "Diamond and Pearl. They are Sinnoh Dex Holders."

As the heiress began to describe her two friends, Blue noticed that her expression was getting lighter, to the point where she began to smile. Thinking of her two friends really helped.

"Diamond and Pearl, huh? I'd like to meet them," Blue said. "Can you call them and ask them to come here?"

Platinum's expression darkened. "I have already tried to contact them, but they did not answer."

Red suddenly perked up. "Hey, while we're waiting for those two to make contact, why don't we all have a little battle tournament?"

Blue turned to face him. "What?"

"A battle tournament. Just like the one we had years ago. Gather everybody here, and let's have a friendly tournament. There's nothing wrong with a little healthy competition, now is there?"

Green smiled. "I suppose it would be interesting to see how much stronger everyone has become."

"What do you think, Platinum? You're going to meet the rest of your seniors," Crystal said from beside the heiress.

The heiress looked at her senior and after a moment of thought, slightly nodded. '_All of my seniors? The last thing I want to happen is to disappoint more of my seniors… I must be careful._'

"Crystal, where's Emerald?" Green asked.

"He should be in Slateport City. Knowing him, he probably finished his task yesterday," the Johto girl replied after a moment of thought.

"Good. Get him to return. I'll see if I can get my grandfather to call Professor Birch."

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm… it seems that a particular trio of Dex Holders never appeared so far. Not for long. Oh, Special Adventures may seem to go slowly at first, as nothing bad has happened yet. Well, nothing <strong>_**particularly**_** bad. Platinum may have gotten her feelings hurt, but she'll get better. Special Adventures will start nice and slow before sh*t starts to happen… And it's not far off.**

**Read below after you've seen the 'MISC' in SE #024: The Set Up II.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

"GOLD!" Crystal screamed. The soda spilled onto her hat, soaking her hair. Grumbling, she rose to her feet. "Great. Now I have to wash my hair quickly before the sugar dries!" On her way to the bathroom, she 'accidentally' hit the soda bottle, pouring the drink all over Gold.

"Oh, that was just childish, Super Serious Gal!" Gold yelled. "What I did was an accident!" Unlike Crystal, however, the goggled boy simply took a paper towel to wipe the soda, not caring about the after-effects.

Crystal headed towards the bathroom and reached for the door handle when she could hear someone sobbing. Surprised, she looked around and realized that the sound was coming from inside a dark empty room. Crystal looked inside and was surprised to find Platinum sitting alone in the corner, sobbing with her face buried in her arms…

The Johto girl quickly ran towards the other Dex Holders, 'accidentally' hitting Gold's soda bottle, pouring the drink all over the goggled boy a second time.

"Everyone, listen. Platinum's crying…"


	5. A Day at the Beach

**Thanks for all the reviews! Keep them coming! The quick update was partially because of that.**

**Note: 200 000 PKD would be 1000 USD, by my currency exchange rate. So… that's a hell of a birthday gift. I'd assume a Pokégear would cost around 20 000 PKD or maybe a little less. For Gold being a little hostile to Platinum, well… she did kick him where it hurts the most. About Cheren and Bianca being Dex Holders… well, I believe that their fragile Pokédex version VII's were ruined for a reason. But we'll see.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: A Day at the Beach<p>

Route 101, Hoenn…

In a think forest, a figure completely covered in thick leaves stood on a tree branch, looking around. The figure jumped off the branch, swung on a vine and landed on another thick branch. The figure took a Pecha Berry from the tree and took a bite.

"Hey, cave-girl! Where are you?" came a familiar voice from below.

The figure, being Sapphire, clenched her hands so hard that the Pecha Berry practically exploded in her grip.

"Did I get your attention yet? Hey!"

'_He still calls me that? I'll show that pansy!_'

Sapphire jumped off the branch and after silently swinging on various vines, landed on a branch directly above Ruby. She reached into her bag and pulled out a Bluk Berry. She was going to give that to him so he can make one of those Pokéblocks for his Contests, but now it would serve a different purpose. Sapphire aimed and with all her strength, threw the Bluk Berry directly at Ruby's head. More specifically, his hat; his clean, perfectly unstained white hat that most likely came straight out of the washing machine.

The Bluk Berry exploded on contact with Ruby's head. The impact knocked him off his feet and he landed in… a puddle of mud. Sapphire laughed as Ruby began to freak out.

"Argh! Mud! It's everywhere!" he screamed out. "I just washed these clothes!" After flailing around for a few seconds, he got back to his feet. He looked disgusted as he tried to wipe away some of the mud. He glared at Sapphire as she landed on the ground right in front of him (away from the mud, though). "Damn it, Sapphire! Look what you did!"

Sapphire crossed her arms and grinned. "You shouldn't have called me that."

"So you made me fall into mud just because of that?"

"Oh, that's not all I did…" Sapphire looked at Ruby's no-longer-clean hat. She started to laugh again when she saw the huge black stain…

Ruby looked confused. He put a hand on his hat, felt something wet, and took his hat off to examine it. He froze when he saw the remains of the Bluk Berry and the huge black stain.

"Sapphire!" he yelled, glaring at her. "What the hell! Is this a… _Bluk_ Berry? The stain's never going to come off!" He looked at his hat once more. "Argh! I have to wash this thing as soon as possible!"

Sapphire watched as Ruby ran away. Satisfied that she dealt enough damage, she slowly walked after him. After all, Ruby did try to find her for a reason. Upon arriving at Littleroot, she found Ruby's house and sat on a tree branch directly in front of the window of the ex-Johto boy's room.

An hour later, Ruby appeared in his room, in clean clothes that looked exactly the same as the attire he wore before falling in the mud. Then again, Sapphire recalled that Ruby had a closet full of identical clothes. Ruby saw her and after a sigh, opened the window.

"So why'd you look for me?" Sapphire asked.

Ruby sighed once more. "I was trying to tell you that I have a message from Kanto."

"Huh?"

"Professor Oak called your father and your father told me that the Kanto Dex Holders want all the Dex Holders gathered in Pallet Town. I wasn't told why, though."

Sapphire perked up at the mention of the Kanto Dex Holders. Without warning, she reached over, grabbed Ruby by the collar of his shirt and dragged him outside.

"Then why didn't you say so? Let's go!" After hurling Ruby down to the ground (he landed on his feet so his clothes didn't get dirty), she stuck her fingers in her mouth and delivered an ear-splitting whistle. "TORORO!" she screamed shortly after. Within a minute, her Tropius arrived and Sapphire jumped on. "Well? Get on!" she yelled at Ruby, who simply stared at her.

Ruby grumbled something about being over-enthusiastic and climbed on. Before he even had a good grip, Sapphire ordered her Tropius to Fly straight to Slateport City.

…

Half an hour later, Slateport City…

…

The two Hoenn Dex Holders landed in front of the harbor. The ship was set to leave for Vermillion City in an hour, and Sapphire hastily urged Ruby to get the tickets. But as the two Hoenn Dex Holders approached the waiting area, something strange happened. They could hear the sound of Pokédex resonation…

"Huh, Emerald must be nearby," Ruby muttered.

Sapphire glanced around and sniffed at the air. She pointed ahead. "There he is!"

The two Hoenn Dex Holders ran to find the third Hoenn Dex Holder. Emerald tried to hide, but Sapphire soon caught him.

"Ah, crap…" he muttered as Sapphire grabbed his shoulders.

"Hi Emerald! I haven't seen you in a while!" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Professor Oak and Crystal sent me here," Emerald replied. '_I knew I should've gone back to Kanto as soon as I completed my task…_' He looked at the ship that was still docked. '_Stupid ship… if only that thing left an hour earlier…_'

"So did you hear that our seniors are calling for us?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes. I heard from Crystal."

"Do you know why?" Ruby asked. "This barbarian thinks that we're all gathering for a big battle tournament."

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Sapphire growled at him.

"Well if you'd act a _little_ more civilized, then I wouldn't!"

Emerald groaned as his two fellow Hoenn Dex Holders started to bicker. He looked at his watch. '_55 minutes… with these two…_' He sighed and looked at the bickering duo. "Would you two shut the hell up?" '_This is going to be a __**long**__ trip…_'

…

Several hours later, Pallet Town…

…

Platinum sat on a chair and listened to Crystal as she talked about Emerald. The heiress didn't look as crestfallen as she did a few hours ago, but she still remained silent and kept all thoughts to herself. By talking to Yellow and Blue (the two most friendly looking Kanto Dex Holders), the she learned about most of the Dex Holders, but still knew nothing about the Hoenn Dex Holders. Luckily, Crystal was able to help out with a third of that problem. And for the sake of surprise, no one told Platinum that Green was the Viridian Gym Leader. As a result, the only thing the heiress knew of the Viridian Gym was that Red could've been the Gym Leader, and that 'someone strong' is the current Gym Leader.

Thanks to Yellow's explanation, Platinum understood why Silver was acting so cold. She also understood what Blue meant when she said there were moments in her past that she did not like to talk about. The heiress found it shocking that Blue was so cheerful compared to her dark past.

Crystal finished talking about Emerald's involvement with Jirachi when Blue declared that dinner was ready. Blue and Yellow were on dinner duty, Crystal had to take care of Platinum while the four male Dex Holders… played games.

Platinum waited for all of her seniors to take a seat around the dinner table before she sat. And as per etiquette, she waited for all of her seniors to start eating before she joined. She thanked her seniors for the meal and took a bite of the food on her plate. The food was delicious, but her expression slightly darkened as she remembered something.

"Platinum, what's wrong?" Crystal asked. "Is the food bad?"

"Oh, no," the heiress said quickly. "The food is very delicious. It is just that… Diamond is an excellent cook himself, and the delicious food reminds me of him…"

…

Jubilife City…

…

"Hey Pearl, can't we get to Canalave City any faster?" Diamond asked.

"… I never thought I'd be able to say this to you, but… What's the rush?" Pearl asked back. "We'll be at Canalave tomorrow."

"It's just been so long since I last saw the Lady, you know?" '_I have a feeling that she needs me…_'

Pearl looked at his friend and raised an eyebrow. "Well… I miss her too. I guess if we skip dinner and ride our bicycles, then we might get to Canalave before the last ship leaves. We'll need to find one of those water-taxis that'll take us across the water in Route 218 as soon as possible, though."

…

A few hours later, Canalave City…

…

Diamond waited while Pearl went to trade the free tickets into boarding passes. Before long, Pearl came back.

"Hey Dia, great news!" he said. "Apparently the tickets we got were for the speed boat."

"Huh?"

"The regular ship would arrive in the night of August 10. But the speed boat would arrive around noon of August 10. We'll save around 10 hours."

"That's great. So when does it leave Canalave?"

"In… five minutes. Let's get on board!"

…

August 10, 12:45 pm., Vermillion City harbor…

…

Emerald got off the ship with his Magic Hand Extensors placed firmly over his ears. Behind him, Ruby and Sapphire followed, still bickering about why the Kanto Dex Holders wanted them. Sapphire was convinced that the reason was for a battle tournament while Ruby argued that not everyone is a battle-freak like she is. The Hoenn Dex Holders left the harbor and felt the difference between Kanto and Hoenn. The slight difference in temperature did nothing to aid Emerald in his attempts to shut up the other two Hoenn Dex Holders.

At the same time, the speed boat from Sinnoh had arrived and Diamond and Pearl took their first step into Kanto. The two Sinnoh Dex Holders left the harbor and instantly noticed the difference between Kanto and Sinnoh.

"Whoa… it's so…" Pearl started. "… It's so damn hot here!"

From beside, Sapphire looked at him. "Hot? I'd say it's kind of… cool here."

"Cool? You call this cool? Something's wrong with you!"

Before Sapphire and Pearl could start an argument, Ruby and Diamond separated the two.

"Remember our purpose here, Sapphire," Ruby said. "We have to get to Pallet Town."

"Pearl, we have to find the Lady first. Arguing with random strangers isn't going to help us," Diamond said.

The Hoenn trio walked away from the two Sinnoh Dex Holders. Before Sapphire sent out her Tropius, she saw someone running towards them.

"Ah, there you are!" the person said.

"Crystal! Nice to see you again!" Sapphire said excitedly.

Emerald ran up to Crystal. "Save me!" he said when he got close. "Those two have been arguing for two days straight!"

Crystal smiled. "Well, I came to make sure that you three know where you're going. Pallet Town, right?"

"Yes," Ruby replied. "Why are we here, exactly?"

"Red suggested a battle tournament," Crystal replied.

Sapphire burst into laughter. "Ha, so I _was_ right!"

Ruby grumbled and looked away. Sapphire sent out her Tropius and climbed on. Ruby sighed and climbed on too.

"Hey Emerald, aren't you coming?" Sapphire asked.

"I'd rather walk," Emerald grumbled out.

"Emerald, get on the Tropius. You don't have a Pokémon that can Fly," Crystal said.

Emerald grumbled as he climbed onto the Tropius. Crystal watched the Hoenn trio disappear into the distance then headed towards the nearest shop.

"Where are you, you stupid…" she grumbled out.

"Hey, Super Serious Gal, that's not very nice," said Gold as he exited the store. As expected, he was munching on some cookies.

"Why do you always leave me to do all the work? You should greet your juniors too, you jerk."

"Well, why do we always have to go greet them? Why can't someone else do it?"

Crystal sighed in exasperation. "Why am I always stuck with you, Gold?" '_Huh… I recall talking about that with Green at one point…_'

"You should be nicer to me, Crys," Gold said with a grin. "You lost that game to senior Blue, right? Which means you have to do whatever she tells you to. So… if I were to give her a suggestion that she would find amusing…"

Crystal stomped up to Gold and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt… a 'technique' she learned from Silver and Green.

"Don't you dare!" she growled. "If you do, I'll…"

"What are you going to do? Get Proto-Gal to kick me again?"

"Who?"

"That girl from Sinnoh. You know, her and those… _protocols_."

Crystal kicked Gold in the knee before she released and pushed him away.

"Ow… I'm telling."

Before Crystal could say anything, she could hear someone running from behind.

"Hurry up, Dia!" came a voice. "We need to buy a map of Kanto and some cold drinks NOW!"

Crystal turned around and saw two boys running towards the shop. The boy in the lead had blonde hair, and wore a green scarf. The boy struggling to keep up had a red scarf, and had what appeared to be rice cakes in his hands.

The Johto girl suddenly recalled what she heard from Platinum. '_A hasty boy with blonde hair with a green scarf named Pearl, and a relaxed boy with black hair and red scarf who loves to eat named Diamond, or Dia for short! Could it really be them?_' Just as the leading boy was about to pass her, Crystal grabbed his arm. "Excuse me, what's your name?" she asked.

"Pearl," the boy answered.

"Is your friend named Dia?" Crystal asked. Pearl nodded. "Do you know a girl named Platinum Berlitz?"

"Miss Lady? Sure I know her. How do you know her?" Pearl asked.

"We're her seniors. My name is Crystal, Crys for short, and…" Crystal started, turning to look at Gold. The goggled boy was busy trying to balance his billiard cue on his nose… "… That's Gold… from New Bark Town." Crystal shook her head and faced the two Sinnoh Dex Holders. "And we're Johto Dex Holders. Platinum came here a few days ago and we took her to Pallet Town to meet Professor Oak and the other Dex Holders."

Gold took the billiard cue off of his nose and compressed it inside its handle. "So you're the ones Proto-Gal's been continuously talking about. Hasty and Slow."

"Platinum's been trying to call you for the past three days. Why didn't you answer?" Crystal asked.

"Well… we were trying to surprise her with our visit," Diamond replied. "Could you take us to her?"

"Sure. But from what I heard, you two don't have any Pokémon that can Fly…" Crystal thought for a few seconds. "In that case, let's go through the Diglett's Cave. Platinum told me you have bicycles so that shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Pearl looked at Diamond. "You think she's trustworthy?"

"Only one way to find out," Diamond replied.

The two Sinnoh Dex Holders stood beside each other and looked at Gold and Crystal. After a short moment of silence, Pearl and Diamond moved into action.

"Speaking of Pokémon!"

"Speaking of Pokémon~!"

…

Half an hour later, Pallet Town…

…

"So Ruby, who do you want to avoid fighting in the Battle Tournament?" Sapphire asked.

"Well, I wouldn't want to fight at all, but I guess I'd avoid you at all costs," Ruby replied. "You'd probably get your Pokémon to throw mud at mine for the sole purpose of dirtying them."

"I hope I don't get to fight Red," Sapphire muttered.

'_I hope I don't get to battle Crystal,_' Emerald thought to himself. '_But I'd love to battle these two… Maybe I'll get a chance to shut them up for good._'

The Tropius landed on the ground and Ruby hopped off. Sapphire's ears twitched and she looked to the left, where she could see a group of people walking closer. She recognized the person in the lead, and quickly ran to greet him.

Red looked ahead just in time to see Sapphire before he ran into her. The Hoenn girl grabbed his hands and started to shake excitedly.

"It's so great to see you again!" she squealed out.

"Uh… yeah," the Kanto Dex Holder muttered. "Well, let's get the battle tournament started!" he said, before taking a look around. "Hey, where are Gold and Crys?"

"I think Crystal went to the store in Vermillion to find Gold," Sapphire quickly replied. "But do you remember me?"

"You're… uh…" Red frowned, trying to remember. "Your name was… S… something…" With a sigh, Yellow walked up to him and whispered in his ear. "Oh yeah, you're Sapphire. I knew that…"

Sapphire smiled and bowed to him. She was a little disappointed that her role model didn't remember her, but she understood. She didn't see him in a long time, after all. She figured that spending more time with him would fix that problem. Maybe he could even _train_ her. Oh, how she'd like that…

After shaking his hand once more, she ran around to bow to all of the other Dex Holders. She stopped mid-bow in front of a girl she had never seen before. Sapphire knew that she was one of the junior Dex Holders, so she assumed that everyone with Red were her seniors. But she never recalled seeing a girl younger than her during the Battle Frontier incident. Seeing her confused look, Blue spoke.

"This is Platinum Berlitz from Sinnoh," she said. "She's one of the Sinnoh Dex Holders. Which means, Sapphire, you're her senior."

Platinum gave a polite bow. Sapphire simply rubbed the back of her neck, unsure of what to do or say.

"Me? … A senior?" Sapphire gently shook the heiress's hand. "Well… it's nice to meet you." She turned to look in the direction of Ruby and Emerald, who were still near the Tropius. "HEY, GET OVER HERE!" she roared. "I'll be right back, rookie," she said to Platinum before she ran back to the other two Hoenn Dex Holders.

"Rookie?" Platinum muttered.

"Well, you're not exactly green," Blue said from beside. "No Dex Holder is. But compared to the other Dex Holders, you do have the least experience." She turned to look at Red. "Well, since everyone except Gold and Crys are here, let's go to a place where we can battle and have fun doing other things."

"Such as?" Red asked.

"The beach, of course. The beach in southern Pallet Town. This town's small and quiet enough that no one would bother us there."

Red shrugged and started to walk south. The other Dex Holders followed. Blue made Yellow tell the Hoenn Dex Holders while she called Crystal to let her know what's happening.

…

Vermillion City…

…

Crystal was listening to Pearl explain why he and Diamond were at Kanto when her Pokégear rang. After the (rather abrupt) comedy act, Diamond and Pearl decided that the two Johto Dex Holders were trustworthy and not bad guys. Though Crystal didn't laugh or smile at all to the act, Gold had nearly laughed himself to tears.

Crystal looked at Gold who was still laughing. She shook her head before she took her Pokégear out. Blue told her through the phone that the battle tournament would be taking place in the beach, and in turn, Crystal told her that the remaining two Sinnoh Dex Holders have arrived, but want to surprise Platinum. The Kanto girl understood and agreed to not tell anyone.

After hanging up, Crystal looked at her two juniors. "Okay. Listen, Gold and I need to get to Pallet Town right now so we don't cause any suspicion. We won't tell anyone that we saw you two." She handed them a small map of Kanto. "Take the Diglett's Cave and upon exiting, head straight south. You'll eventually pass Viridian City and arrive at Pallet Town. We'll be waiting for you."

"What about Miss Lady?" Pearl asked.

"She'll be with us," Crystal replied. "Remember, she won't be expecting you, but she really misses you two."

Crystal sent out her Xatu while Gold sent out his Mantine (and lots of Remoraids). The two Johto Dex Holders waved good bye to the two Sinnoh Dex Holders and flew towards Pallet Town. Diamond and Pearl watched their two seniors disappear before they took out their bicycles and headed towards Diglett's Cave.

…

Meanwhile…

…

L: Are our scouts ready?

D: Ready for what, sir? Scouting the enemy?

L: No, getting ready for dinner. We have a big feast planned for- OF COURSE SCOUTING! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK?

D: Oh. Yes, they're in position. Who are our enemies?

L: Those Dex Holders. Everyone knows that they are the main threat to our organization.

D: Oh right. Those _kids_. Yes, our scouts report that just about all of them are gathered in Pallet Town.

L: Good. Make sure our scouts just observe them. Do not underestimate them, and do NOT try to fight them.

D: Understood sir.

L: And if they get the chance, see if they can kidnap that girl from Sinnoh. She's filthy rich, you know. Holding her for ransom would really help us.

D: Understood sir. I'll tell our scouts to kidnap her now.

L: No, you idiot! Not when all the Dex Holders are gathered together! Our scouts will be destroyed! Tell them to _look_ for the opportunity. Like… when the girl is alone and preferrably tired.

…

/ / FRAGMENT 2/ERROR [RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED PRE-CATACLYSM]

S: I hope you're not planning on betraying me again.

J: Why do you accuse me of that?

S: I know it was you that gave hints to ShadowNet that those Dex Holders are in Pallet Town. You're hoping that those Dex Holders will wipe them out before they do anything. And I told you, we need them for now. Trust me. ShadowNet won't be a concern to us.

J: And why should I trust you? You betrayed us at one point, you Galactic scum.

S: I never betrayed Team Rocket. I was never on their side. Besides, you betrayed them first. And you should be careful. The only reason you're here right now is because your skills with machines is necessary. Don't make me change my mind. But rest assured; after you've fulfilled your purpose, you can leave and I will leave you alone.

J: You think I'm afraid of you?

S: We'll see.

/ / FRAGMENT ENDS

…

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><p><strong>And so ends the 5th installment of Special Adventures. The full reason behind the quick update is that… this chapter was over halfway done when chapter 4 was added. The completed parts were supposed to be in chapter 4 until I realized how long the chapter would've become. Thus the completed parts were shifted over to chapter 5.<strong>

**Gold's nickname for Platinum is Proto-Gal. Pearl would be Hasty, Diamond would be Slow. If you have suggestions for a better nickname, then review them. And for Sapphire calling Platinum as 'rookie'... well, paired with what Blue says immediately afterwards, that's another reference! There have been so many references so far…**

**The 6th installment is approaching completion. It will be added to Special Adventures once I am sure that the chapter flows nicely (or relatively nicely) and that there are no stupid spelling/grammar errors.**

**Read below after you've seen the 'MISC' from SE #024: The Set Up II.**

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><p>What Could Have Been (1 of 2):<p>

"Why are you wearing those leaves again?" Ruby demanded. "What did you do with the clothes I made for you?"

"Those things rip easily," Sapphire replied. "They're not good for me whenever I'm helping papa with his research."

"You mean they're not suitable for you since the clothes are classy and you're a barbarian."

Sapphire briefly considered in murdering Ruby. Instead, she simply turned away. Without warning, she took off the leaf camouflage. Ruby quickly covered his eyes and turned away.

"Relax you sissy," Sapphire said. "I'm still wearing those clothes."

"Right…" Ruby cleared his throat. "Anyways, I was going to…" he trailed off when some of the remains of the Bluk Berry slid from his hat and onto his shoulder.

With a sigh, Ruby took off his hat and tried his best to wipe away the remains. Sapphire glanced at the Salamence scar on the ex-Johto boy's head, reminded once more of the fateful event…

…

(2 of 2)

…

Blue watched from the ground as the Hoenn trio flew towards Pallet Town. The Kanto girl was about to do the same when she heard a voice from behind.

"Hurry up, Dia! We need to buy a map of Kanto and some cold drinks NOW!"

'_Dia? Could it be Diamond that Platinum was referring to?_'

Blue turned and looked as two boys ran towards the nearest shop. The Kanto girl noticed the color of their hair and scarves, and realized that the two boys were Diamond and Pearl. She quickly ran towards the shop as well and waited for the two to come back out. Before long, the two boys came out and ran into Blue.

"Are you two Diamond and Pearl?" the Kanto girl asked. "And you know a girl named Platinum Berlitz?" she asked when she received nods from the two.

"How do you know Miss Lady?" Pearl asked.

Blue withdrew her Pokédex and showed it to them. "I'm her senior. She's with the other Dex Holders right now. If you'd like, I could give you a lift to Pallet Town. Platinum really wants to see you again, after all."

Diamond and Pearl glanced at each other. But since the older girl was holding a Pokédex, the two Sinnoh boys felt that they could trust her and nodded…


	6. Delusions and Grandeur

Chapter 6: Delusions and Grandeur

1:40 pm, Pallet Town…

Platinum watched from behind as her seniors from Hoenn interacted. Once again, the heiress had been severely disappointed. From what she could hear, Ruby did not like battling or anything that could get dirt on him. It made Platinum wonder how he became a Dex Holder to begin with. She made a mental note to find out about his past so she may understand his personality. It worked with Silver, so it should work for Ruby as well.

Sapphire, on the other hand, didn't seem to match the heiress's definition of a _person_. The Hoenn girl ran on all fours, didn't know how to read properly, loves to climb trees and possessed inhuman physical strength; not to mention the fact that she had no visible manners. Also, she kept bickering with Ruby. Constantly. Platinum recorded what she noticed about Sapphire on her notepad. But she decided that she should wait before making any conclusions.

Emerald seemed too… strange. He was shorter than Platinum, had artificial arms and legs (from what the heiress could see), had what appeared to be a chunk of the Green Orb on his forehead, and generically acted like a troublemaker. The heiress had heard from Crystal that he was an unwanted orphan, and as such, sympathized with him. She made a mental note to ask him where he got that piece of the Green Orb. She recalled hearing from her mother that she worked on creating the Green Orb, but had to cancel the project.

Platinum turned to look at her other seniors. Green and Silver were sitting underneath a tree, waiting for the two Johto Dex Holders to return. Red was dozing off in the shade and Blue sat on the grass with her feet in the water. The Kanto girl had said 'beach' but the heiress noticed that the water was calm and serene like Lake Verity of Sinnoh. It was nothing like the noisy beach south of Sandgem Town.

"Hey Platinum," Blue said, looking at the heiress. "Come and put your feet in the water. The water's so cool!"

Platinum hesitated a little but nodded and ran towards her senior. She would have politely refused two days ago, but she had lightened up significantly thanks to her seniors' efforts. Platinum first put a hand in the water to feel the temperature. Afterwards, she took off her pink boots and her long black socks and put her feet into the water. The moment the cold water hit her feet, the heiress felt the heat of the Kanto summer vanish.

"Feels good, huh?" Blue asked.

"Yes. It is very pleasant," the heiress replied.

Suddenly, Platinum could hear beeping noises all over the place. From beside, Blue took her Pokédex and pressed a button to shut off the resonation. The heiress noticed that all of her other seniors did the same. She turned around and saw Gold and Crystal land.

"It's called Pokédex resonation," Blue said.

"Yes, I am aware of that function," Platinum said. "But I have never heard resonation of more than 3 Pokédexes."

Blue chuckled. "Well, our Pokédexes were modified so they would also resonate when all 10 Pokédexes with the proper owners were gathered nearby. I'm sure that Professor Oak will upgrade all our Pokédexes at least a little so that the resonation occurs when all 13 Pokédexes gather."

Platinum took out her own Pokédex and looked at it. '_I wish mine would resonate…_' "My friends and I always called the resonation as the morning sound."

"Morning sound? Why?"

The heiress smiled faintly. "When we traveled together, we would always stay in the same hotel. When I go to the lobby every morning, Pearl is waiting for me with an expression that tells me that I am late. We wait until our Pokédexes resonate, and that is when Diamond comes to the lobby too. We shut off the resonation at the same time and we would begin the day…"

Blue smiled. "So you have pretty fond memories of the Pokédex resonating, don't you?"

"Yes."

"You should enjoy those moments. Keep making those fond memories," Blue said. "I envy you for that… I don't have many good memories. Most of them I'd rather forget."

"I am awfully sorry, senior," the heiress said hastily. "I did not wish to-"

"Hey, it's okay," the Kanto girl said with a bright smile. "It's all in the past now. Besides, I have my parents back, and I have real friends. What more can I ask for?"

Platinum looked at her senior with admiration in her eyes. Blue let out a short sigh and moved her hand and eyes towards her neck. The heiress could see that her senior was wearing a necklace with a heart shaped pendant. The Kanto girl gingerly brushed her finger across the pendant, with a longing look in her eyes. Platinum noticed that her senior's expression became slightly sad. She was about to say something when Red's voice stopped her.

"Hey, let's begin the battle tournament!"

Blue withdrew her feet from the water. She gave Platinum a smile that appeared slightly forced. With a towel she had nearby, she dried her feet and put her socks and shoes back on. Platinum did the same and rose to her feet.

"There are 11 of us right now," Yellow started. "So… would you mind if I don't participate?" she asked Red. "I mean… I… don't really want to battle anyone…"

Red nodded. "Sure. I know you don't like fighting. So if you don't want to battle, then that's okay. But can you still heal all of our Pokémon after each battle?"

"Of course," Yellow replied. "I'd be glad to."

"So… who's going to fight who?" Red asked.

Blue raised a hand. "I have an idea!" From her bag, she took out a sheet of paper and a pencil. She wrote the names of all the Dex Holders participating in the battle, and then cut the paper into 10 pieces so that each piece had a Dex Holder's name. She then took off her hat and placed the pieces inside.

"I'll draw names for the first battle!" Blue looked away while she shuffled through the pieces of paper in her hat. She picked one and pulled it out. "Huh… I'm up first, I guess," she said, reading her own name on the piece of paper. "And I'll be battling…"

Crystal clasped her hands together. '_Not me… not again…_'

Blue looked at the drawn piece of paper and grinned. "Crys!"

"Ah, darn it…" the Johto girl grumbled.

Blue gave the two pieces of paper and her hat to Platinum to hold. She reached into her bag and withdrew her Pokéballs. Crystal also got prepared for battle.

"Why do I have to battle you again?"

"I hope you trained, Crys," Blue said with a smile. "Though the result is still going to be the same as last time."

"I don't think so, Blue. I've gotten a lot stronger since then," Crystal replied. '_Ah, who am I kidding… she's going to thrash me… again…_'

Gold walked up to Crystal and patted her on the back. "You're screwed, Crys."

The Johto girl sighed. "Thanks for the… _encouragement_, Gold…" She looked at Blue. "So… is there anything on the line in this tournament?"

"Of course!" Blue replied cheerfully. "If you lose in the first round, no lunch and you get clean-up duty for lunch. Lose in the second round then you're on clean-up duty for dinner. Lose in the third round then you're on lunch duty. Lose in the final round, and… nothing happens. The winner can order us around for today."

"No lunch?" Crystal gasped out. '_Oh… I'm hungry already…_'

…

8 minutes later…

…

Crystal groaned as she returned her Meganium back into its Pokéball. Despite type advantage and a well placed Frenzy Plant, the Meganium fell to Blastoise's point-blank Hydro Cannon.

'_I thought she was up to something when she let Megapeon get free hits…_' Crystal thought to herself. "That was… a dirty trick," she grumbled to her senior. "You let Megapeon to get free hits so that your Blastoise would steadily take damage, so that its ability Torrent would activate…"

"I'm glad you figured it out," Blue said with a smile.

"You also had Blastoise keep spinning to reduce the damage taken so there is no risk of you actually losing."

"Yes. But don't forget the occasional Mirror Coat to weaken your Meganium. That way, the Torrent boosted Hydro Cannon was enough to finish the battle. Also, I was careful enough to not trigger your Meganium's Overgrow."

Crystal sighed. "The dirty trick was that… you actually made me think that I could win. You gave me a false sense of hope!"

Blue chuckled. "Well… that wasn't really my fault now, was it?"

Crystal sighed and walked out of the battlefield.

"You put up a good fight, Crys," Gold said as he walked towards her. "But you know, with 10 people in the tournament, 5 people are going to lose in the first round."

"I hope you battle Red or Green, you jerk," Crystal growled out. "That way, you'll get destroyed!"

"Ouch, Crys. That's harsh!" Gold complained. "Why would you hope such things? If anything, shouldn't you be cheering for me?"

"Well, let's just say it's like… Destiny Bond," Crystal replied. "If I'm not eating lunch, you're not either."

Gold grinned. "So you want to be with me so much that you're willing to bond your destiny with mine, huh?"

"What? No!" Crystal yelled. "I'd never-"

Blue smiled as the two Johto Dex Holders started to argue. She received her hat from Platinum and proceeded to draw another pair of names from the remaining 8 pieces of paper.

"Next up!" she yelled, gaining everyone's attention. "… Silver, and… Emerald!" The Kanto girl looked at the red headed Johto Dex Holder. "Good luck, Silver!"

"Thanks, sis," Silver replied.

"Battle number 3 will be between…" Blue started. "… Sapphire, and…"

"Come on, Ruby!" Sapphire yelled. "Let me fight Ruby!"

"Come on, not me!" Ruby yelled. "Let her fight someone else!"

"Sapphire will battle… Red!" Blue yelled.

"Ah crap!" Sapphire yelled. "Wait… Red? … Oh no…"

"Yes! Not me!" Ruby exclaimed happily. "And no chance of me fighting her in the tournament entirely!" Noticing the deadly glare Sapphire was giving him, Ruby cleared his throat. "I mean… good luck."

"The fourth battle will be between… … Ruby and… … Gold!" Blue yelled out.

"Darn it!" Crystal yelled. "Ruby, you better beat Gold!"

Platinum gasped. "Then… the fifth battle is… between me and senior Green?"

Blue looked at her junior. "Sorry, Platinum. But… it's all chance."

As the heiress mentally prepared herself for her battle against Green, Silver battled Emerald in the second battle of the tournament. But soon, she found herself watching the battle intently. She couldn't believe how… talented Emerald was. She heard what Crystal said about him, but she didn't quite believe it.

Platinum focused on the battle. Silver and Emerald were battling with everything they had and seemed on par. The heiress noticed that she would not have stood a chance if she were to battle one of them.

"Wow… They are so evenly matched," she muttered 15 minutes into the battle. "And they are so strong…"

Blue smiled. "They're not evenly matched," she said. "Look, Silver's been holding back. He hasn't sent out his Feraligatr yet. I don't know why though. Maybe he wants to use full power against Red or Green."

"Come on, Emerald! You can do it!" Sapphire yelled from behind.

"Silver, stop holding back!" Blue yelled.

Silver nodded and took a deep breath. The battle had worn out Emerald's Pokémon, and as a result, when Silver's Feraligatr appeared, the battle ended within a minute.

"Good job, Silver," Blue said with a smile. "You've grown much stronger since the last time I saw you battle."

"Thanks sis."

"You put up a good fight, Emerald," Sapphire said as her fellow Hoenn Dex Holder left the battlefield.

Emerald ignored her as he sat in the shade of a tree. '_Well… at least one of the bickering couple's going to lose right after me._'

Platinum sat in the shade of a different tree and watched as the 3rd battle started. She didn't expect much, though. She doubted that Sapphire had enough, if any, talent to last more than a minute against Red. But once again, her impression of the Hoenn Dex Holder was inaccurate. She couldn't believe it, but the wild Dex Holder was a lot more talented than she was…

'_No… this is impossible…_' Platinum thought to herself. '_How could she be stronger than I am? She is so… uncivilized. She cannot read, has no manners and… is stronger than me?_'

Though Sapphire eventually lost (her Blaziken and Aggron were not enough to handle Red's Venusaur and Aerodactyl), Platinum couldn't help but notice that her senior lasted more than 10 minutes against Red. Considering that the heiress had lost to Green within 3 minutes…

"Good battle, uh… Sapphire," Red said as he approached his junior. "I haven't had a battle like that in a long while." The Kanto Dex Holder patted Sapphire on the back. "If you'd like, how about I train you? You want to get stronger, right?"

The Hoenn girl clasped her hands and dropped to her knees. "Oh, I'd love that! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Platinum started to feel dizzy. Sapphire was so much stronger than her… even _Red_ offered to train her… And all the heiress got from battling Green was broken self-esteem.

'_Impossible… In my battle against senior Green, I must prove that I am better than senior Sapphire… I must…_'

As a result of the shock, Platinum was unable to focus on the 4th battle. All she could tell was that Gold lost thanks to Crystal's constant interference (the Johto girl threw twigs, branches, rocks, and occasionally Pokéballs at the goggled boy's head, trying and succeeding in distracting him).

…

Battle 5, 2:45 pm…

…

Platinum stood on the battlefield, nervously clenching her Empoleon's Pokéball. In contrast, Green stood on the opposite side, looking completely normal.

'_Okay… I need to last more than 10 minutes or even possibly defeat senior Green if I am to prove that I am better than senior Sapphire. I cannot lose to someone so uncivilized!_' Platinum thought with a nervous gulp.

"So we meet in battle again," Green said slowly. "I don't want to make you starve, but I do have a scheduled battle against Red, preferably in the finals."

"I… I understand," the heiress said after another nervous gulp.

"And I hope that you've improved since last time."

Blue noticed from behind that Platinum seemed to be shaking. It became evident when the heiress fumbled with a Pokéball.

"Platinum! Relax! You'll do fine!" Blue said from behind.

Platinum took a deep breath and calmed down. She sent out her Empoleon and prepared for battle. Green sent out his Charizard.

'_No… it is impossible for me to last more than 5 minutes against senior Green…_' Platinum thought. '_And I cannot beat him either. However, if there is anything I can do, it is impressing all of my seniors with a creative counter._' "May I request that you use Blast Burn?" she asked politely.

"Hm? You _want_ me to use Blast Burn?" Green asked, a little surprised.

"What's she doing?" Sapphire asked Blue. "I mean… when I battled Red, the last thing I wanted was him to use Frenzy Plant…" '_Which he did…_'

"I… don't know what she's thinking," Blue replied. "She did say that she had a method of withstanding Green's Blast Burn. Maybe she wants to test it out?"

"Very well then. Blast Burn!" Green ordered.

The Charizard took a deep breath and prepared. Platinum jumped into action.

"Now, Empoleon! Execute Plan 1!"

The Empoleon stalled for a split second before aiming Hydro Pump at the sky. Just as Charizard opened its mouth to deliver the ultimate attack, the Empoleon started to spin while aiming another Hydro Pump at the ground. The water hit the ground with enough force to bounce back up, effectively forming a shield of water around the Empoleon. By the time the Blast Burn hit, the Hydro Pump aimed at the sky fell back down, effectively simulating rainy weather. The Blast Burn's power was weakened by the pseudo rain and was weakened even further by the water shield. And when the remainder of the attack hit Empoleon, because the Sinnoh Pokémon was rapidly spinning, the damage was lessened.

"Whoa…" Gold muttered.

"That's incredible! Way to go, Platinum!" Crystal cheered.

Half a second before the attack ended, the Empoleon stopped spinning.

"Now! Maximum power Hydro Pump!" Platinum ordered.

The remaining Blast Burn did damage Empoleon, but wasn't enough to make it faint. Instead, it only triggered the Torrent ability, thus greatly increasing the power of Hydro Pump. The Empoleon aimed so that its Hydro Pump would hit the Charizard without hitting the Blast Burn.

"Impressive," Green muttered. '_She knew exactly how long it would take for the Blast Burn to get ready, and how long it took for the attack to hit. She practiced enough so that her Empoleon would have the perfect timing to perform its counter… And she got her Empoleon to attack when Charizard would need to rest after using Blast Burn…_' "Most impressive!"

"We are not finished yet! Drill Peck!" Platinum ordered right after.

The Empoleon flew straight towards Charizard (which was significantly weakened by Hydro Pump) while spinning. But Green withdrew Charizard before the attack hit and sent out Porygon2. The Drill Peck hit hard. Noticing the effectiveness, Platinum got her Empoleon to do it again. But this time, the attack barely did anything.

"That was really impressive, Platinum," Green said. "But I must thank you for using Drill Peck against Porygon2."

"Conversion 2, is it not?" the heiress asked. "That is why your Porygon2 took such little damage from the second Drill Peck."

"Yes. I'm surprised you found out so quickly. Tell me. What types resist Flying types?"

Platinum thought for a second. "Steel, Rock, and…" Her eyes opened wide in shock. "Electric!"

"Exactly! Zap Cannon!"

The Porygon2 instantly charged a massive electric ball and shot it towards Empoleon. Platinum instantly panicked and the attack hit before the Sinnoh Pokémon could do anything. And thanks to Conversion 2, Porygon2's type became Electric, thus Zap Cannon gained a power boost.

Platinum returned her Empoleon back to its Pokéball. She had lost once again. She checked her Pokétch; it had been one minute and 39 seconds since the battle started. Green returned Porygon2 and approached her. The heiress looked down again; she thought that she had disappointed her senior once more. But to her surprise, Green patted her on the shoulder.

"That was very impressive," he said. "I think you deserve this."

The Kanto Dex Holder dug into his pocket and retrieved what appeared to be a Gym Badge. He gave it to Platinum, who received it with a very confused look. Then it all made sense.

"Are you the Gym Leader of Viridian City?" she asked in surprise. Green nodded.

"The others kept it a secret because it was going to be a surprise. I wanted you to find out when you entered the Gym during your travels after you became stronger, but I don't think that's necessary."

"But… do I not have to defeat you for the Gym Badge?"

"Not really. I can just give the Badge to whoever I think is deserving of one." Green gave another pat on the shoulder before he turned around. "Besides, you almost beat me today."

Platinum gave a deep bow to her senior. "Thank you very much!"

"Wear the Earth Badge with pride," Green said. "It's a Badge that even Red doesn't have."

"You don't have the Earth Badge?" Sapphire asked Red.

"Well… I beat Giovanni in the Viridian Gym," the Kanto Dex Holder started. "But… let's just say that neither of us was in any condition to worry about a Gym Badge."

Platinum looked at the Earth Badge once more before she pinned it on her scarf below the Sinnoh Gym Badges.

'_I tried my best. Yet in the end, I did not last even two minutes against senior Green, nor did I defeat him. I must accept defeat. Senior Sapphire is clearly much more talented than I am…_' Platinum turned to find Sapphire in the group of other Dex Holders. '_I must learn more about her…_' She spotted her senior still talking to Red, and the heiress's eyes opened wide in shock when she noticed 8 Gym Badges pinned on the Hoenn girl's bag. '_Could it be?_'

"So, what do you think about Platinum?" Blue asked Sapphire.

"Well… she's really smart," the Hoenn girl replied. "That was a creative counter. I never thought that you could withstand Red or Green's ultimate attack."

"Um… senior Sapphire?" came Platinum's voice from behind.

"Yeah?" Sapphire turned to face her junior.

"May I talk to you in private?" the heiress asked politely.

"Sure."

"Alright people, we're going to take a small break before we move on to round 2!" Blue yelled from behind.

Sapphire glanced at her senior before she signaled her junior to follow. The Hoenn girl headed away from the other Dex Holders, towards a small forest beside the beach.

…

Meanwhile…

…

"Hey, that's her, isn't it? The really rich girl that we're trying to kidnap," said a man as he remained hidden in the forest.

"Yeah. That's her. But it looks like she's with someone," said the other man.

The two ShadowNet grunts watched as the two Dex Holders came closer.

"Let's go and get her right now," said the first grunt.

"No. We need to make sure that she's completely alone. If we attack now, we'll lose."

"But… the other one's just a little girl! We can take her!"

"No, don't!"

"Fine. We'll wait a few minutes. But if nothing changes, then I'm going to attack them."

…

3:00 pm…

…

Platinum listed as Sapphire briefly described her journey around Hoenn.

"So you were the one who obtained all 8 Gym Badges within 80 days?" the heiress asked in shock.

Sapphire nodded. "Yep. Although I did spend about a month fighting all the bad guys."

"That is incredible, senior!" '_I was a fool to think that I could be stronger than her. Wow… perhaps she could teach me a few things._'

"But hey, tell me about yourself. I mean… you must've done some…" Sapphire trailed off. With an alerted look, she focused on her hearing. "… Rookie, get ready. Someone's coming…" she whispered.

Platinum looked surprised, but she reached for Rapidash's Pokéball nonetheless. Sapphire gripped her Donphan's Pokéball and waited.

The moment the two ShadowNet grunts (the second grunt followed so that they'd have a _slightly_ higher chance of succeeding in the kidnapping) sent out their standard-issue Golbats, they were greeted by a Rock Tomb (Donphan) and Fire Blast (Rapidash). The two ShadowNet grunts sent out more standard-issue Pokémon, only to be quickly beaten down. They were about to send out their last Pokémon when an Ice Beam flew right above their heads.

Sapphire turned around and saw Ruby and his Milotic. The Ice Beam had been a warning shot.

The two ShadowNet grunts decided to run away. Sapphire considered in chasing them, but because the two grunts had no uniform or logo whatsoever, she thought that they were just some muggers. Chasing and capturing them wouldn't do anything.

…

"I warned you!" the second grunt yelled at the first while running as fast as he could. "I warned you, but did you listen to me? Oh no you don't… Didn't you? Oh, she's just a harmless little girl, isn't she? Well it's always the same! I always tell people but do they listen to me? Oh no…"

"Oh, shut up!" the first grunt yelled back. "Just keep running!"

…

"Well… thanks, Ruby," Sapphire said as she returned her Donphan. "Though I don't think we needed your help. Those two… sucked."

Ruby returned his Milotic and crossed his arms. "You never know that they're carrying some sort of a secret Pokémon. Besides, I wasn't going to help out but…" Ruby smirked. "You didn't really beat them as fast as I thought you would. Looks like I overestimated you," he taunted.

A vein bulged from Sapphire's forehead. "Why you… Just because I lost in the first round, it doesn't mean I can't take care of myself! And what do you mean overestimate? You think I suck at battling?"

Platinum returned her Pokémon and followed her two bickering seniors as they walked back towards the other Dex Holders (who were out of sight range). Despite their appearance, the two Hoenn Dex Holders had battling talents far greater than her own. She now looked at them with newfound respect, but at the same time felt a little despair. All of her seniors were so much stronger than her, and it made her feel pathetic around them. The heiress vowed to try much harder to become stronger…

Platinum glanced where the two weak men ran away. She wondered who they were and why they wanted to attack. But seeing how all of their Pokémon were wiped out pretty easily, she doubted that they would be much threat (should they return), and chose to ignore them.

…

Meanwhile…

…

"Finally! We're out of the cave!" Pearl yelled. "Dia, where are we?"

"Uh… Route 2," Diamond replied, examining the map. "If we head straight south, we'll arrive at Pallet Town after Viridian City and Route 1."

"And Miss Lady's still in Pallet Town?"

"Well… if what Crystal said was true, then yeah."

"Great… it's going to take us like 3 hours to get there…" Pearl grumbled. He shifted the gear on his bicycle to the fastest setting. He had shifted gear in the cave as he needed to be careful not to disturb the Digletts and Dugtrios. "Dia, why don't we have any Pokémon that can Fly?"

Diamond simply shrugged as he shifted the gear on his bicycle as well. "Neither does the Lady and she gets around pretty well."

"Whatever," Pearl said. "We're going to ride straight south, with no breaks whatsoever. If we go fast enough, we might be able to get to Pallet Town a lot faster. Okay… let's see if we can get to Viridian in half an hour. Let's go!"

Pearl started to pedal as fast as he could. Diamond pedaled as fast as he could as well, his urge to see Platinum again fueling his strength.

* * *

><p><strong>And so ends the 6<strong>**th**** chapter. Note: the word-error in the second ShadowNet grunt's rant is intentional. It's a quote from a movie. If you know what movie, then… good for you.**

**Oh by the way, there **_**will**_** be original non-evil characters in SA. They will assist the Dex Holders a little, but mostly will fill the 'bystander' role. I currently have 5 characters planned. 4 of them will appear directly after one of the preview scenes from SE. The 5****th**** will appear… some time before. But I will need more… The first original non-bad-guy character is set to appear in… two chapters.**

**Coming up on chapter 7 (which I haven't started): Diamond and Pearl **_**finally**_** meet Platinum, the battle tournament ends, and Operation UPPERCUT is explained a bit more.**

**Read below after you've seen the 'MISC' in SE #024: The Set Up II.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

"The first battle is going to be between…" Blue said as she dug through her hat. "Platinum and… … Sapphire!"

Platinum sighed in relief. She still believed that she could handle Sapphire easily. The heiress sent out her Empoleon while Sapphire had her Blaziken out.

It wasn't until the Blaziken hit Empoleon with a really strong Sky Uppercut that Platinum felt something was wrong. She thought it was a fluke, but when the Blaziken used Blast Burn, the heiress realized that she had severely underestimated her senior all along.

But the problem was that… Sapphire was aware that Platinum was disrespecting her. The Hoenn girl smirked and returned her Blaziken to its Pokéball once Empoleon couldn't battle anymore.

Platinum returned her Pokémon and quickly ran towards Sapphire. She wanted to and needed to apologize for the lack of respect. But when she got close, she could see the 8 Hoenn Gym Badges pinned on her senior's bag…


	7. A Whisper in the Storm

**Keep up with those reviews! More the better!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: A Whisper in the Storm<p>

Blue watched as Yellow finished healing the last Pokémon involved in the 1st round of the battle tournament. The younger girl looked _really_ tired, and Blue was starting to worry.

"Yellow, are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah… I'm okay," Yellow replied. "I've been training so I can use more of my powers without falling asleep."

"Really? That's great," Blue said. "Maybe if you keep practicing and training yourself, you could use your powers without getting tired at all."

"Maybe in time." Yellow suddenly yawned. "I know I can heal about 6 Pokémon in one day without falling asleep."

'_6?_' Blue looked at the ground where all the Pokéballs of the healed Pokémon were gathered. '_… There are 17 Pokéballs here…_' "How long have you been practicing?"

"…"

"Yellow?" the older girl called when she received no answer. Upon closer inspection, Blue realized that Yellow had fallen asleep. After a second, she called Red over.

"What's up?" Red asked.

"Look, Yellow fell asleep. We should move her to the shade," Blue said. "And by 'we', I mean you."

Red shrugged and gently lifted Yellow onto his arms. Blue watched as he headed towards the shade of a big tree. She felt… envious of Yellow. She remembered being carried by Red like that, and recalled how… _comfortable_ it was. Blue looked over to Green (who sat in complete silence in the shade) and wished that she had _someone_ who would carry her like that from time to time. The Kanto girl turned her focus to Gold and Crystal when their voices caught her attention.

"Crys, since you cost me my lunch, you can forget about getting a good present for your upcoming birthday next month."

Crystal clenched her hands into fists. "My birthday was over three months ago, you jerk!"

"Oh…" Gold muttered. He appeared really surprised. "Then… whose birthday am I thinking of?"

The Johto girl crossed her arms and turned away. She was quite upset about the fact that Gold wasn't there to attend her birthday party over three months ago (he wasn't in the region at the time), and now she was positively pissed about the fact that he had _forgotten_ her birthday entirely.

The goggled boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh… sorry, Crys."

"Too late for apologies, you jerk," Crystal said angrily. She stormed away from Gold and decided to _not_ get him nice gifts anymore.

Blue walked towards Red and Yellow. Yellow was sleeping peacefully and Red stood by, not knowing what to do. He hoped that the second round of the battle tournament would start soon.

"She looks cute when she's asleep, huh?" Blue asked Red.

"I guess," the champion replied. "Hey Blue, when are we going to start the second round? And… isn't it a little too late for lunch?"

The Kanto girl sighed. '_Changing the subject, huh? Oh well…_' "I guess we started the battle tournament a little too late. I guess we should start the second round now."

"Good. Let's hurry up. I want to face Green in the finals once more."

"Right." Blue turned to face the other Dex Holders (Platinum, Ruby and Sapphire have returned). "Okay, let's start round 2!" she yelled. "But because of the time, we're going to change the punishment! The losers of round 1 won't get dinner!"

Crystal groaned. She barely had anything for breakfast that day. She had skipped lunch, and now there would be no dinner either…

"The loser of round 3 is on dinner duty! Nothing else changed!" Blue continued. "Now let's begin!"

The 5 eliminated Dex Holders all sat in the shade and watched as Blue drew names from her hat once more. There were 5 names left in that hat, and only four would be selected. The two winners' names would be placed back inside the hat and two random names would be drawn for round 3. The winner would then face the remaining Dex Holder for the final round.

Crystal sighed. If she knew that she was going to have to face Blue (or any of her seniors) in the first round, she would have eaten something in Vermillion City…

"Hey Crys, you hungry?" came Gold's voice from beside.

Crystal glanced at him, and noticed that he was eating some of the snacks he bought in Vermillion City (and the some he had in his bag from before). The Johto girl didn't reply and looked away from him. Gold grinned. He tapped her on the shoulder and presented her a cooked sweet potato.

"You can have it, if you want," he said. Crystal looked surprised. The goggled boy continued. "But you'll have to forgive me for forgetting your birthday."

The Johto girl scowled at him, but eventually sighed and accepted the sweet potato. She would forgive him this time, but next time, there would be no forgiveness.

Platinum watched her seniors and wished that Diamond was with her once more. The Sinnoh boy always had snacks with him, and the heiress was starving. Watching Gold, Crystal, Sapphire, and Emerald eating didn't help either. Sapphire was eating berries from her bag, and Emerald had snatched a berry from the bag when the Hoenn girl wasn't looking.

Platinum noted sadly that once again, none of her seniors had noticed her needs… With a sigh, she decided to focus on the battle tournament so that she would forget her hunger.

"Okay, the first battle of round 2 will be between…" Blue started. "… Red and Silver!" '_Ouch… sorry, Silver…_' "Battle two will be between… Green and Ruby!" '_Whew… good thing I didn't end up facing Red or Green… for now, at least._'

…

20 minutes later, 3:50 pm…

…

Silver and Ruby joined Gold, Crystal, Sapphire, Emerald, and Platinum under the shade. They put up a good fight, but as expected, were demolished by Red and Green respectively. Platinum looked at the remaining 3 seniors in the battle tournament. Only the Kanto Dex Holders were left, so the remaining battles were going to be extremely good.

Blue nervously started to pick two random names for the 3rd round. '_Well… I have to fight Red or Green… I hope I fight Red. He might take it easy on me…_' "Next battle is between…" Blue drew a name. "Me, and…" '_Not Green, not Green, not Green, not…_' "… Red!" '_Yes! Not Green!_'

Platinum had her notepad out and got ready to write down the strategies used in the Red vs. Blue battle. Blue took a deep breath and prepared to battle. She knew she wasn't going to win. But Red would take it a little easy on her. Probably not enough to win, though. Well, making dinner wasn't _that_ bad. At least Red's Pokémon weren't at full health. Since Yellow was still asleep, the Pokémon involved in the battles were healed with Hyper Potions, and… there weren't enough for everyone. As a result, the Dex Holders had to share, which didn't fully heal any of the Pokémon.

…

Viridian City, 4:00 pm…

…

Pearl impatiently paced around his bicycle while Diamond stood beside his with some rice cakes in hand. The two Sinnoh Dex Holders couldn't ride the bicycles anymore, because…

"Flat tire? What the hell?" Pearl yelled out. "And why did your wheel fall off?"

"Well… I guess riding through the Diglett's Cave damaged our bicycles," Diamond replied. "There were a lot of rocks there, after all."

"Where's the nearest bicycle repair shop?" Pearl asked.

Diamond searched through the map of Kanto. After some 15 minutes (and over 30 urgings from Pearl), he finally found what he was looking for.

"The nearest shop is in Cerulean City."

"Cerulean? Where is that?"

"… Far away from here. We'd probably be able to get there in two days if we walk."

Pearl let out an explosive sigh. "That's it then. We're walking to Pallet Town. We'll fix our bicycles later. … It'll take us over 5 hours to get to Pallet Town by walking!"

Diamond took a bite out of his rice cakes. "Well, we better get going then. The Lady's waiting for us."

…

Pallet Town, 4:30 pm…

…

Blue sat beside her juniors in the shade. Surprisingly, Red _didn't_ take it easy on her at all… And as a result, she lost pretty quickly. The Kanto girl received half of a sandwich from Silver and watched as Red and Green prepared for battle. It turned out that Red and Green had enough healing items (which they didn't share with the other Dex Holders) to fully restore all of their Pokémon, that way they could battle each other at full strength. No sense in defeating a weakened opponent, apparently.

Platinum had already filled out a page worth of notes from the Red vs. Blue battle. And now she prepared to fill out more pages from the Red vs. Green battle.

…

Ecruteak City…

…

Morty slowly opened his eyes. He could feel something… some sort of a disturbance, as if something horrible was going to happen soon. He left his Gym and concentrated, trying to pinpoint where the horrible disturbance would occur. After a few minutes, he caught a glimpse and quickly headed south.

…

6:30 pm…

…

Platinum sat on a chair in Red's house, still awed by the Red vs. Green battle that took over an hour. Red managed to win… barely. The two Kanto Dex Holders were so evenly matched… The battle left both Red and Green satisfied, and lots of holes and craters on the ground. Several trees were lost in the battle as well. Since Red won the battle tournament in the end, he now had the 'privilege' to order the rest of the Dex Holders around for the remainder of the day. And all he did was order the losers of the first round to help out with dinner and dinner clean up, except Platinum.

"You're from a really rich family. I can't let you do things like cleaning dishes," Red had said. "Besides, you came a long way from home."

"What about my seniors from Hoenn? They came a long way too," Platinum had asked back.

"Well… they're no longer the youngest Dex Holders."

As a result, the heiress now simply sat on a chair and watched as her seniors prepared dinner. Sapphire, Gold, and Crystal were helping Blue with dinner, and Emerald was to be on clean up duty along with Silver and Ruby.

Platinum had already talked to Ruby and learned a lot about Sapphire. But there seemed to be gaps here and there in Ruby's story. The heiress made a note to ask Sapphire herself for information on those gaps. But for now, she didn't know what to do.

From the kitchen, Gold and Crystal came out. The Johto girl was groaning as she held an ice pack on her right leg and the goggled boy was rubbing the back of his neck.

"Senior Crystal? Are you okay?" Platinum asked.

"Yeah… I'm fine," Crystal replied as she limped towards the couch.

"What happened?" Emerald asked.

"Some jerk _accidentally_ poured boiling water on me," Crystal growled out, glaring at Gold.

"Hey, you're the one who bumped into me when I was carrying that bowl!" Gold argued back.

"Seriously Gold, you're going to be the death of me someday."

While the two Johto Dex Holders started to argue, Platinum went to the kitchen. Since Gold and Crystal weren't helping anymore, the heiress thought that she could be of some help.

The heiress found it to be an interesting experience. Making food herself was… quite fun. She learned many things during the process; mainly that… she wasn't good at all. It was a good thing that Blue charged her with a small portion of the side-dishes. Platinum figured that she needed more practice to become better. Once again, Diamond's presence would have been greatly helpful…

…

11:30 pm…

…

Platinum sat up and gently stretched. She had been asleep for around half an hour. She couldn't sleep anymore because it was too uncomfortable. The Dex Holders split into two so that half would sleep in Green's house and the other half in Red's house. Platinum was in Red's house, along with Red, Yellow, Gold, Ruby, and Sapphire. While Red slept in his own bedroom, the others had to find other places to sleep, and because there was no guest room, they had to sleep in the living room. Gold took the couch. Yellow, who had been dozing off after healing the rest of the Pokémon involved in the battle tournament, was fast asleep on the floor, leaning against the couch. Sapphire was snoring on the floor and Ruby slept quietly on the floor far away from her. The heiress also had to sleep on the floor, and since she was used to sleeping on beds in expensive hotels, she could not sleep well.

Platinum carefully rose to her feet and neatly folded the blankets (everyone sleeping in the living room was given blankets for the night) she was given. She silently and carefully stepped towards the front door. Luckily for her, Gold and Sapphire's snoring masked any and all noises she made. After putting her boots back on, Platinum quietly left the house. She needed some fresh air and some time to herself.

The heiress missed her two friends. Being constantly near her seniors meant that she had to be careful not to offend or disrespect or even disappoint anyone. And the pressure of being around people who were far stronger than her was straining. At least with Diamond and Pearl, Platinum didn't feel that pressure and instead, felt at ease. As a result, the heiress needed some time by herself to lessen the stress. In time, she would feel more and more comfortable being around her seniors and she would not receive any stress. But that was not the case right now.

The heiress took out her Pokégear and considered in calling Diamond again. She had called him over 30 times, but still got no response.

'_Maybe… maybe he is ignoring me,_' she thought with a sigh. She could feel tears starting to form in her eyes. '_Maybe Diamond and Pearl were not my friends after all…_' As she wiped away the forming tears, she heard something that made her wonder whether she was dreaming.

"… Lady?" came an all-too familiar voice from behind.

Platinum froze. '_That sounded like… … no, it cannot be Diamond. If he is here, then Pearl is also here. If both of them are here, then my Pokédex would have resonated…_' The heiress could feel her heart starting to beat faster. She placed a hand over her heart and slowly turned around. She dropped her Pokégear in shock. "… Diamond…"

Diamond quickly ran towards her, waving. Platinum also ran up to him excitedly.

"It's been a long while," he said with a smile.

When he got close, Platinum suddenly hugged him. Diamond nervously put a hand on her back, wondering whether he was dreaming. He noticed that Platinum seemed to be trembling. He pulled back slightly, and noticed that the heiress was crying.

"I – I thought I lost you…" she sobbed out. "I missed you so much…"

"It's okay, Lady. I'm here now," Diamond said as he gently rubbed Platinum's back. He couldn't help but notice how much the heiress had changed since the last time he saw her. He never saw her cry before… He had seen her devastated and struck speechless a few times, but she never cried… "But what do you mean?"

"You… you did not answer any of my calls… I thought you were… ignoring me…"

"No, of course not! I just wanted to surprise you! I'll explain everything."

Platinum nodded and wiped away her tears as Diamond began to explain what happened the past four days. Her expression lightened after each of his sentences and once he finished explaining, hugged him once more.

"I should never have doubted you," she said with a smile.

Her expression lightened even more when her Pokédex started to resonate. Diamond took his Pokédex out and looked behind him. He could see Pearl running closer. For the sake of surprise, Pearl stayed far away out of the Pokédex resonation range and let Diamond get to Platinum first. And now, seeing how neither Diamond nor Platinum was looking for him, he decided to interrupt his friends' reunion. He was already impatient because he and Diamond got _lost_ on the way from Viridian City to Pallet Town (took a wrong turn while trying to avoid the tall grass).

Platinum looked even happier. She quickly rose to her feet and ran to meet Pearl. Much to Diamond's surprise, the heiress hugged Pearl too. The relaxed Dex Holder shook away the unfamiliar feeling and walked towards his two friends.

After catching up with her two friends, Platinum gave the two boys her notebook, containing complete information on all of her seniors. She intended on introducing her two friends to the rest of the Dex Holders in the morning, and she wanted her friends to know the basics about the others.

…

August 11, 7:30 am…

…

Platinum sat on the grass outside Red's house and watched as Diamond and Pearl practiced a comedy act. The heiress had spent the night inside her senior's house, but woke up early and left to stay with her friends. And now, after eating breakfast made by Diamond, Platinum wanted to spend more time with the two Sinnoh Dex Holders.

"Hey Miss Lady, would you like to see one of our new comedy acts?"

"Of course, Pearl," Platinum replied with a bright smile.

"Well… it's something completely different than all the acts we've been doing so far."

"Then I am even more intrigued. Do go on."

Pearl took out the Pokéball containing his Chatot and took a few steps away from Diamond. The relaxed Dex Holder turned away from Pearl and while crouching, pretended to search for something in his bag. Pearl approached him.

"Hello, I wish to register a complaint."

…

Meanwhile, Blue woke up in the living room of Green's house. She looked at the clock and groaned when she realized that she had overslept. She was supposed to wake up at 6:30 so she could prepare some events for the day, but it was too late now.

She sat up and noticed that no one else was awake either. The whole battle tournament and the events that followed had been tiring. She decided to let everyone else sleep and after getting ready for the day, quietly left the house. She wondered if the others in Red's house were awake, so she headed over.

Outside Red's house, Blue could see Platinum sitting on the grass, giggling as she watched two boys talking to each other. By the time the Kanto Dex Holder reached the heiress, the two boys had finished the act and bowed to the 'audience' briefly. Seeing her senior, Platinum quickly rose to her feet and gave a polite bow.

"Good morning, senior," she said. "How was your sleep?"

"It was fine," Blue replied. She noticed that her junior looked extremely happy. "Hey, who are these two?" she asked, looking at the two boys.

"Ah, my apologies. They are Diamond and Pearl," Platinum replied.

"Oh, your two friends from Sinnoh!" Blue walked towards Diamond and Pearl and extended a hand. "I'm Blue, one of the Kanto Dex Holders. And I've heard so much about you two from Platinum."

Diamond and Pearl shook her hand in turn. Blue smiled brightly, happy that all 13 Dex Holders have finally gathered.

…

Fortree City, Hoenn…

…

Winona looked down at her city from her Altaria. There was a festival in the city, and as even though it was early morning, there were lots of people flooding the streets. As a Gym Leader, Winona knew it was her responsibility to make sure nothing bad happens. Though patrolling the city from high in the sky allowed her to see everywhere, it also made her visible from everywhere. And on the ground, many small groups of people observed her every move while waiting for the orders from their main HQ in-

…

Violet City, Johto…

…

Another bunch of groups of people watched Falkner and his Skarmory high in the sky as the Gym Leader chased down a fleeing suspect. They too, were waiting for the orders from the main HQ. The group looked around and spotted other groups of people all in position. The moment the order came, they would all spring into action. The order was to be sent from the main HQ in-

…

Pallet Town, 8:30 am…

…

Diamond and Pearl stood in front of all the other Dex Holders and prepared for a comedy act. Platinum had introduced them to all of their seniors, and while the seniors ate breakfast, the two Sinnoh boys made efforts to get better acquainted with them. And during that process, Blue asked them to perform a comedy act. As a result, the two Sinnoh boys were going to perform the act they showed to Platinum an hour ago. The heiress only saw the rehearsal (or at least an incomplete version), and now she was going to see the full act. Pearl borrowed Blue's Ditto, and had it transform into a birdcage and put his Chatot inside. The Chatot made an effort to remain perfectly motionless. Diamond and Pearl declared to his seniors what their roles were. Diamond was the pet store owner and Pearl was the customer.

Diamond crouched and began to pretend digging through his bag. Pearl approached from behind and began the act.

"Hello, I wish to register a complaint," he said. "Hello, miss?" he said when he received no reply.

"What do you mean 'miss'?" Diamond asked as he turned to face him.

Pearl stared at him for a second. "… Sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint!"

"We're closing for lunch."

"Never mind that, I wish to complain about this parrot that I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique."

"Oh yes, the Chatot," Diamond said, looking into the birdcage. "What's wrong with it?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong with it," Pearl said calmly. "It's dead. That's what wrong with it."

"No, no, it's resting."

Pearl raised the birdcage (where his Chatot lay on the bottom of the cage, perfectly motionless) and looked into it. "Look buddy, I know a dead parrot when I see one, and I'm looking at one right now."

"No, no, it's not dead! It's just resting! Remarkable bird, the Chatot. Beautiful plumage!"

"The plumage don't enter into it. It's stone dead."

"No, no! It's resting!"

"Alright then," Pearl said. "If it's resting, I'll wake it up!" He looked into the birdcage and started to yell. "Hello, parrot! Wake up! I've got a-"

Diamond quickly hit the cage, making the Chatot move. "There, it moved!"

Pearl looked at him. "No, it didn't! That was you pushing the cage!"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!" Pearl took his Chatot out and started to shake it slightly. "Wake up, parrot!" He tossed the Chatot into the air and watched it fall and land on a patch of grass (the Chatot moved slightly so that it wouldn't hit the ground too hard). Pearl looked at Diamond. "Now that's what I call a dead parrot."

"No, it's just stunned!" Diamond said.

"Stunned?"

"Yes, just as it was waking up! Chatots stun easily."

"Look, buddy. I've had just about enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased. And when I bought it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its total lack of movement was due to it being tired and shagged out after a long squawk."

"It's uh… it's probably pining for the fjords!"

"Pining for the fjords?" Pearl exclaimed. "What kind of talk is that? Look, why did it fall flat on its back the moment I got it home?"

"The Chatot prefers keeping on its back! Remarkable bird, isn't it? Lovely plumage!"

"… Look, I took the liberty of examining that parrot, and I discovered that the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been _nailed_ there."

"Well, of course it was nailed there. Otherwise, it would have muscled up to those bars, bend them apart with its beak and VOOM!"

"… Look, buddy," Pearl said as he picked up his Chatot. "This parrot wouldn't 'VOOM' if I put four thousand volts through it! It's freaking demised!"

"It's not! It's… it's pining!"

"It's not pining, it's passed on!" Pearl yelled. "This parrot is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! This is a late parrot! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies! Its metabolic processes are history! It's off the twig! It has kicked the bucket; it has shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible! This is an EX-PARROT!"

"… Well, I'd better replace it then." Diamond pretended to take a look around. "Sorry, but we're right out of parrots."

"I see. I get the picture," Pearl said with a sigh.

"… I have a Gastrodon," Diamond said.

"… Does it talk?"

"… Not really, no."

"Well it's scarcely a replacement then, is it?"

"N – No, I guess not," Diamond replied, looking down in shame. "Look, if you go to my brother's pet shop in Pallet, he'll replace your parrot for you."

"Pallet, huh?" Pearl muttered. "Alright then." He turned around and took several steps away. Diamond took off his hat (as a way to say that he's a different person now) and waited. Pearl came back, pretending to look around. "Excuse me," he said. "This is Pallet, right?" he asked.

"No, no. This is Viridian."

Pearl sighed. "Stupid bus…" He then turned around and walked away again. He soon turned around and walked back. He stood in front of Diamond and glared at him. "I understand that this _is_ Pallet."

"Yeah," Diamond said.

"But you told me it was Viridian."

"… It was a pun," Diamond said after a moment of thought.

"A pun?" Pearl exclaimed.

"No, no. Not a pun. What's the other thing that reads the same backwards as forwards?"

"… A palindrome?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"It's not a palindrome! The palindrome of Pallet would be Tellap! It don't work!"

"… What do you want?" Diamond asked.

"No, I'm sorry! I'm not prepared to pursue my line of inquiries any further. It's getting too silly!"

"Well… Do you want to come back to my place?" Diamond suggested.

"… Yeah, alright. Sure."

Diamond and Pearl bowed to the audience, and the Chatot did as well, mimicking its trainer. Most of the other Dex Holders clapped. Many were busy laughing, but some… didn't react at all to the act. The laughs ranged from a simple giggle or chuckle to complete rolling on the ground, laughing like crazy. Diamond and Pearl glanced at each other before they looked at Platinum. The heiress was also laughing and looked very pleased. The two Sinnoh boys seemed to have made a good first impression.

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: Our assault groups are in place. Squads 1 to 50 are in Violet City, 51 to 100 are in Fortree City. Squads 101 to 125 are scattered around Fortree City, awaiting orders.

L: Very good. We seem to have gotten a lot more volunteers than we thought we would. Good. They'll come useful, unlike your hand-picked scouts.

D: Uh…

L: How long did they last? 5 seconds?

D: 7 seconds, actually.

L: … Whatever. I told you to order your scouts to _look_ for opportunities, but apparently that wasn't clear enough. … Tell them to return to HQ. They'll be put into the torture room.

D: The torture room?

L: Don't worry. It's just a name. Anyways, commence Operation: UPPERCUT.

D: Could you tell us what it is? Some of our members are really curious.

L: Describe Sky Uppercut.

D: It's a Fighting type move, uh… it's a punch, and…

L: It hits targets in the air. Operation: UPPERCUT will allow us to take complete control over the sky. Gaining complete control over the sky will let us get from place to place easily while our enemies cannot.

D: Ah, brilliant sir.

L: And the first step of gaining dominance in the sky is taking out Gym Leaders who specialize in Flying types.

D: Of course.

L: Have squads 1 to 30 ambush and take Falkner of Violet City. Have squads 31 to 50 keep watch. Their job is to attack anyone who tries to help him. But Falkner isn't all that important. Even if he escapes, he won't be much of a threat to us. Our main focus in on Winona and Fortree City. She's the supervisor of all Gym Leaders of Hoenn. If we take her out, the rest of the Gym Leaders will be in disarray long enough for us to completely take over Hoenn. However, if she escapes our attack, then they will not be in much confusion. Squads 51 to 90 will attack Winona from all sides. Squads 91 to 100 will keep watch and attack anyone who tries to help her. Squads 101 to 125 will keep guard all around the city and prevent Winona from escaping.

D: Understood, sir.

L: Remember, the main objective for squads 51 to 125 will be to capture Winona. If capture seems impossible, then kill her. With her captured or dead, the entire city will fall. Once we have complete control over Fortree, we'll advance and take other cities one at a time. Luckily, all the Dex Holders are gathered in Pallet Town and are too busy _playing_ to notice anything. It's also a good thing that Fortree City has a festival going on right now. No one will see our attacks coming. Like a whisper in a storm, no one will know of us until it's too late.

D: Yes. Luck is on our side.

L: But don't get careless. Constantly recruit more and more members and have all recruits go through 24 hours of rigorous training.

D: Who's going to do the training?

L: Squads 126 to 128 will train recruits. Squad 129 will go out and capture all sorts of Pokémon for our use. Squad 130 will train the captured Pokémon a little before the trained recruits can train with them. You see, without the training, all of our members will end up like your two scouts.

D: About our scouts…

L: They lasted _seven_ seconds against two girls who aren't even the strongest of the Dex Holders. And they didn't even use their strongest Pokémon!

D: But they were just scouts! Our assault teams would do much, much better! I know for sure.

* * *

><p><strong>Note: the grammar errors in the comedy act are intentional, as the act itself is a blatant copy off of something else. Thus, that act is not, repeat, NOT mine. For those who know where the act came from, know that I mixed the lines from scripts online and the actual video, and changed some words here and there (and the ending too).<strong>

**I know what a palindrome is (such as… 12321 is a palindrome, and the phrase "rise to vote sir" is a palindrome), but I've never heard of a phrase like "a palindrome of 123 is 321" or anything like that. But no matter… I wasn't the one who came up with that line.**

**Next chapter will be called Operation: UPPERCUT. Sh*t (and lots of it) will **_**finally**_** start happening.**

**Read below after you've seen the 'MISC' in SE #024: The Set Up II.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been (1 of 2):<p>

"Oh, this sucks!" Sapphire yelled once she tasted the side-dish Platinum prepared. "Who made this?" The heiress carefully raised her hand and the Hoenn girl instantly glared at her.

Sapphire was about to say something when Ruby stopped her. "Sapphire, calm down," he said quietly. "She tried her best."

The Hoenn girl realized how harsh she was about to be and quickly calmed down. "Well, I guess this was your first time, right, rookie?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes…" Platinum replied quietly with a guilty look.

Blue and Crystal glared at Sapphire. They had tried so hard to prevent the heiress from getting discouraged… Platinum looked at the expression of all of her seniors. Silver (who was looking in her direction absent-mindedly) appeared to be glaring at her and all of her other seniors (who were talking amongst themselves) seemed to be purposely ignoring her.

Platinum faked a smile and did her best to avoid eye contact with everyone. She had made another mistake… she couldn't afford to make any more.

After dinner, the heiress quietly sat on the couch in the living room with her Pokégear out. She was looking at her seniors, but whenever someone looked in her direction, she quickly pretended to be looking into her Pokégear. Blue, Yellow, and Crystal have tried to talk to her, but the heiress ensured her seniors that absolutely nothing was wrong.

Once everyone was asleep a few hours later, Platinum made her decision. She had been pretending to be asleep until all of her seniors were asleep, and now that she was the only one awake, she carefully rose to her feet. She neatly folded the blankets she was given for the night and placed a short letter on the pillow. She had written that letter before she pretended to be asleep when her seniors were getting ready for the night. The letter read as follows:

_Dear seniors…_

_First, I must thank you for all the important lessons you have taught me. I have learned many valuable things and I will not forget them. However, if there is one lesson I have learned that I will not be able to forget is that I am not likeable. This lesson was made clear to me from all the glares and disapproving looks I have received in the past few days._

_More I think, more I know that it is true. That is why Diamond and Pearl, my two friends, have not answered any of my calls. They were not my friends._

_However, I must point out that it is my fault that I am hated by everyone. I have made too many mistakes. I believed that I would not make any more mistakes since senior Red's birthday, yet I made more mistakes and caused more of my seniors to hate me. I am truly sorry for the discomfort I have caused you, seniors. It will not happen again. And to make sure that I do not bother you from now on, I shall return home._

_Good bye, seniors. I wish you the best of luck and best of health for the future._

_Sincerely,  
>Platinum Berlitz.<em>

Platinum quietly put her boots on and after ensuring that she had everything, left the house. She was going to go back home… She sent her Rapidash and gently climbed on.

"We should go…" the heiress said quietly. "It is clear that I am not wanted here…"

Tears began welling in her eyes as she remembered the contents of the letter she left. She wiped away the tears and sighed. She decided that she would visit Diamond and Pearl in Sinnoh and apologize to them as well. Afterwards, she would remain in her mansion forever…

But near Route 1, she saw something very shocking. She could see Diamond and Pearl running towards her…

…

(2 of 2)

…

"Seniors, I wish to introduce my two friends, Diamond and Pearl," Platinum said happily, indicating the two boys behind her.

Sapphire saw the two boys and noticed something. "Hey, you're that guy who thought this region was too hot!"

Pearl looked surprised. "You're that weird girl who thought this hot region was cool!"

"Pearl, please be more respectful," Platinum said to him quietly and quickly. "I apologize, senior," she said to Sapphire with a bow. "But I wish that you would watch my two friends perform a comedy act."

"Sure, why not?" Blue said. "I've heard a lot about your comedy acts, so let's see them!"

Diamond and Pearl nodded.

"Speaking of Pokémon!" Pearl yelled out.

"Speaking of Pokémon~!"

"We've been given these things called the Pokédex, haven't we?"

"Yes we have."

"And apparently we're not the only ones with them."

"Yes. There are 10 others who got the Pokédex way before we did."

"And we are juniors to them. To us, they are our seniors."

"Seniors, eh?" Diamond quickly pretended to be a senior citizen, faking wrinkles and pretending to be standing with the aid of a staff.

Pearl quickly smacked Diamond on the back of the head. "I didn't mean that senior! Sure, they're old, but they're not that old!"

Blue glared at them as she rose to her feet. "Old?"

Diamond and Pearl glanced at each other.

"Uh oh…" Pearl muttered. "Dia, run for it!" he yelled as he bolted away.

Diamond hesitated for a second before he ran for his life as well, leaving Platinum behind to try to calm the few fuming Dex Holders…


	8. Operation: UPPERCUT

**A fast update… Enjoy! This chapter took about half an hour to write, believe it or not. Everything fell into place really quickly.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Operation: UPPERCUT<p>

9:00 am, Violet City, Johto…

Falkner patrolled around Violet City, feeling great after successfully arresting a criminal. The criminal had been attacking random citizens, armed with a piece of fresh fruit (a banana). The madman was arrested and sent to a mental institute, and the streets of Violet City were now safe from crazed fruit-wielding men.

Suddenly, a Golbat appeared right in front of him, nearly knocking him off of his Skarmory. Even as Falkner was regaining balance, 14 more Golbats appeared, completely surrounding him. Realizing that the Golbats were not friendly, the Gym Leader sent out his entire team. The Golbats started to attack.

The 30 attacking ShadowNet grunt squads watched from below as some of their Golbats attacked. Realizing that the attacks weren't doing anything to Falkner's Skarmory, they changed tactics and ordered the Golbats to attack the trainer. At the same time, the squads sent out anti-air Pokémon to deal with Falkner's Pokémon.

The Gym Leader repelled a pair of Golbats with his transparent discarded Skarmory wing and watched in horror as the rest of his Pokémon were slowly shot down with waves of Ice Shard and Rock Blasts. Falkner returned his Pokémon and tapped his Skarmory.

"You're all that's left," he said quietly. "I think it's time we use a little technique we learned from a senior Flying type user."

He looked down where he could see the attackers. There were lots of them, and they had 2 to 3 Pokémon with them. The Pokémon ranged from Sneasels and Weaviles to Corsolas and Rhydons. The Skarmory jerked to the side as it avoided a Stone Edge from a pair of Rhydons.

"Go, now!" Falkner yelled. "Aerial Ace!"

The Skarmory flew in circles at a moderate speed, dodging several more incoming attacks. The Golbats traced the movements and charged, but in a blink of an eye, the Skarmory had rammed into them, knocking them out of the air. It then started to spin really fast, using Drill Peck to plow through another group of Golbats.

But then, the Skarmory started to take hits from Thunderbolt and Flamethrower. Falkner looked down. He could see even _more_ Pokémon all looking up at him, occasionally attacking. The new batch included Houndooms and Magnetons and other Pokémon with superior type advantage against Skarmory.

Falkner had his Skarmory fly higher into the sky to avoid any other incoming attacks. From higher up, he looked down at his city. He could see that his Gym had been destroyed, along with the police station, Pokémon Center, and several other buildings including Earl's Academy.

"My city…" he muttered. "… I… I need to tell the other Gym Leaders…" Just as he was about to order his Skarmory to Fly away from the city and the hordes of attackers, the Skarmory was hit by a Focus Blast and started to plummet. '_That's it then… it's over…_' Falkner thought.

He closed his eyes and braced for impact, but before he hit the ground, he stopped. His Skarmory had stopped midair as well. The pack of ShadowNet grunt squads all looked shocked. Falkner too, was surprised. After returning his Skarmory, he looked around and saw Morty near the west exit of Violet City, with his Gengar and Mismagius out. The Ecruteak Gym Leader had saved him and his Skarmory with Mismagius's Psychic. Morty quickly had his Mismagius pull Falkner out of danger while his Gengar attacked the leading Golbats with a trio of Shadow Balls.

"How…" Falkner started as he landed on the ground beside Morty.

"I sensed something terrible was going to happen and I thought I could be of some help."

But then, the 20 squads of ShadowNet grunts with the support role suddenly attacked from behind, surrounding the two Gym Leaders. Morty looked around, and seeing no alternate options, sent out his entire team to fight.

Not too far away in Route 36, a girl (around 15 years old) walked by the road to Violet City with an Espeon following closely. She had long black hair and deep red eyes, and wore a white shirt and black shorts. Hearing the commotion in Violet City, she looked to the east and into the city. She could see a huge group of people and Pokémon circling around two people and a small group of Ghost type Pokémon.

The girl took out a book (tour guide for Johto) and scanned through. She recognized the two people from somewhere and soon found their information in the book. Realizing that the two were Gym Leaders, the girl rushed to assist.

Falkner looked towards Route 36 when several Golbats dropped out of the air from that direction. He could see a girl and an Espeon, with the Psychic type Pokémon blasting everything nearby with Psychic and Shadow Ball.

Morty took advantage of the momentary hesitation of the attacking horde and blasted a path to Route 36 with a series of Thunderbolts and Shadow Balls from his Gengar and Mismagius. The two Gym Leaders quickly ran through the hole in the enemy's formation. But the enemy started to chase them. The girl had her Espeon use Reflect and Light Screen to stall the attackers. Some of the ShadowNet grunts ordered Supersonic and Confuse Ray against the Espeon, but were shocked to see the Golbats becoming confused instead. A Magneton used Thunder Wave, but the Magneton became paralyzed, not the Espeon.

The two Gym Leaders had run past the girl at this time.

"Thank you," Falkner said as he stopped behind the girl.

"Why are you stopping? Keep running!" the girl urged.

"What about you?" Morty asked.

"Don't worry about me. Just keep going!"

Falkner and Morty hesitantly jogged away, occasionally looking back at the girl. They only started to sprint away when the girl (who was distracted thanks to the two Gym Leaders) was hit with an Ice Punch from a Weavile that sneaked around the Espeon's Reflect and Light Screen. By the time the ShadowNet grunts broke through the Reflect and Light Screen, the two Gym Leaders had disappeared into the thick forests of Route 36.

The ShadowNet grunt squad leaders gathered around the center of Violet City after ensuring the total take-over of the city. The commander of the operation paced around a little, thinking of what to do.

"Okay… the two Gym Leaders escaped. Which means, the entire region of Johto would be on alert if we don't hurry. Not only that, the Johto Gym Leaders could warn those in Kanto and that region would be on alert too," the commander said with a sigh. "Which means, we'll have to hurry with the next phases. Squads 1 to 5, head to Cherrygrove City and take it over. Destroy the Pokémon Center and any buildings where trainers may gather. Squads 6 through 25, head to Ecruteak City and do the same. The Gym Leader there would be weakened and we'll be able to take over that city very easily. Squads 26 to 44, go to Azalea Town. Squad 45 will stay in this city and defend. The rest will head to Goldenrod City. Our regional HQ is over there so we'll be able to receive backup. Then again, the Gym Leader of Goldenrod sucks, so we won't have any problems at all."

"What about this girl?" one of the squad leaders asked, pointing at the unconscious and tied up girl who had interfered with the operation.

"Take her to our main HQ. Find out who she is and why she was interfering with our work."

…

Fortree City, Hoenn…

…

Winona blinked rapidly to fight the oncoming sleepiness. She had been patrolling the skies of her city since 5 in the morning, when the festival was getting ready to start. And since the start of the festival, absolutely nothing worth noting had occurred.

She raised her goggles and rubbed her eyes. She was so tired… Even though she was flying on her Altaria very slowly, the slight wind was enough to irritate her eyes, forcing her to close them. And knowing that she'd end up falling asleep if she had her eyes closed, she had no choice but to put her flight goggles on to block the wind.

'_Maybe I should get Wallace to patrol the city for me while I go rest,_' Winona thought. '_He's not doing anything nowadays…_' She shook her head. '_No… he'll think that I'm not good enough at my duty._'

As Winona forced herself to focus (focus on… something), her Altaria was suddenly struck by Ice Shard. The Fortree Gym Leader snapped into focus and scanned below.

'_What was that? Was it an accidental misfire?_'

She noticed several Pokémon soaring straight towards her. Within a blink of an eye, she found herself surrounded by Aerodactyls and Magnezones, with Weaviles riding on top of some of them. Suddenly, the entire city seemed to turn blue and yellow as the 40 ShadowNet grunt squads had all their Pokémon use Ice Beam and Thunderbolt on Winona and her Altaria. The Pokémon on the ground continuously attacked, forcing the Gym Leader to focus on evading rather than attacking back. As a result, Winona was unable to send out any more Pokémon.

The Fortree Gym Leader clenched her teeth and ordered her Altaria to use Aerial Ace. With confounding speed, the Altaria managed to dodge a lot of the attacks (and swat some attacking Pokémon out of the way), but still got hit by a few Ice Beams. Winona grunted as her Altaria started to plummet. She noticed that her Altaria's wings have been frozen solid, so she jumped off of it and quickly returned it to its Pokéball.

The Aerodactyls and Magnezones also dropped, tracking her movement. The Weaviles riding on the Aerodactyls attempted a few Ice Shards, but because Winona was in freefall, the attacks didn't hit. The Gym Leader was used to freefall, since she was constantly skydiving (or orbital drop as Wallace would've called it). As a result, she was able to dodge the incoming attacks.

After staying in freefall for a few seconds, Winona sent her Altaria out again. The Humming Pokémon had already been cured of its frozen wings thanks to its ability Natural Cure. The Altaria caught its trainer and steadily soared back up high to avoid the attackers on the ground. If it managed to reach high enough, the Altaria would become invisible in the clouds. But the moment the Humming Pokémon caught Winona and stopped the rapid descent, one of the Weaviles jumped off of an Aerodactyl and on the Altaria.

The Weavile aimed an Ice Punch directly at Winona's face, but the Gym Leader blocked with her arms. She winced in pain as she felt as if her right forearm had been shattered. The arm wasn't broken, but it was causing severe pain. While she used her left hand to try to push the Weavile off, she could see a few Aerodactyls coming from straight ahead. The Weavile attempted a Night Slash, which hit the Gym Leader on the shoulder.

"Agh… Altaria! Dragon Pulse!" Winona ordered.

The Altaria did as told, and the Aerodactyls moved away to avoid the attack, thus clearing a path. The Weavile grabbed hold of the Altaria to avoid falling off and aimed another Ice Punch, this time aimed at Winona's heart. The Gym Leader did not see the attack coming and gasped when the Ice Punch hit. She slumped forward as the Weavile moved around her, grabbing her hair to stay on. Winona grunted as she tried to remain conscious.

"Altaria… ungh… Aerial Ace…" she ordered faintly. "And try… to get to… Sootopolis…"

The Altaria couldn't use Aerial Ace, however, as it was too worried about its trainer. If it were to use Aerial Ace, Winona would surely fall off. Taking advantage of its hesitation, the Weavile hit Winona in the back with another Ice Punch and pushed her off of the Altaria. It then prepared to attack the Humming Pokémon itself. The Altaria started to spin rapidly in an attempt to throw the Weavile off. The Weavile eventually fell off and the Altaria dove straight down in an attempt to get its trainer who was plummeting to the ground. Winona was still barely conscious and instinctively spread her arms and legs to maximize drag.

Several Aerodactyls were moving to get Winona as well, and the Altaria tried to get them away with more Dragon Pulse and a few Ice Beams.

The ShadowNet commander could see Winona plummeting and the speed of the Altaria and Aerodactyls. He could see that the Gym Leader's Altaria would be able to save its trainer, and decided that Plan B would be the better choice. Capturing seemed a little difficult with the Humming Pokémon fighting that furiously. Instead of ordering the Aerodactyls to try to catch the falling Gym Leader, he ordered one of the grunts on the ground to try to prevent the Altaria from catching its trainer.

The Altaria was too focused in trying to get to its trainer that it didn't see the Staraptor attempting a Double Edge against it. The Staraptor hit and forced the Altaria off its course. The Humming Pokémon looked in horror as its trainer disappeared from its view as she plummeted into the forest that covered majority of Fortree City. The Altaria shut its eyes and flew straight into the clouds. It had been given its last orders from its trainer… it had to get to Sootopolis City…

The ShadowNet grunts soon lost track of Altaria when it vanished into the clouds. The grunts were preoccupied in looking at where Winona fell, and momentarily forgot all about the Altaria, allowing it to escape.

The ShadowNet commander gathered all the squad leaders to issue further commands.

"Alright, listen up. Squad 125, look around the forests and see if you can find Winona. We know she's dead, but having confirmation would be great. If you can't find her body, then don't worry about it. Squads 51 to 75, go to Mauville City and take it over. The city has our regional HQ, so it wouldn't be too difficult. Squads 76 to 90, go to Lilycove City and take that over. There are no threats in that city, so it should be very easy. Make sure nothing comes in through the harbor, and prepare to attack Mossdeep City. Squads 91 to 95, stay in this city and make sure no one comes in or out. Everyone else, we're going to Sootopolis City and launch an aerial invasion. So everyone, take 6 Pokémon that can attack from the air."

"Commander, we just got here. Can't we rest a little?" one of the squad leaders asked.

"If you want to give the enemy time to prepare, sure. If you don't, then attack quickly. We will attack when they're not prepared, and advance when they least expect it. Like a fast thunder, we'll catch them off guard and win before they even know what happened," the commander replied. "Now, squads 80 to 90, when you get to Lilycove City, wait until I give the order. Then, attack Mossdeep City with everything. After taking over Sootopolis, we will attack Mossdeep too."

…

9:30 am, Azalea Town…

…

As the ShadowNet aerial assault groups attacked the town and destroyed the Pokémon Center and the Gym, they received absolutely no resistance at all. Unfortunately for the people of Azalea, Bugsy had left on a trip to the Viridian Forest to study the Bug Pokémon there.

Some people of the town tried to call Prof. Elm, under the thought that the professor would know of people who could help. However, the ShadowNet assault teams within Goldenrod City had already taken over the communication tower in the heart of the city, effectively stopping any and all methods of communication within Johto.

In Goldenrod City, though Whitney was at her Gym, she proved to be no match for the small group of ShadowNet grunts who were attacking the city. The Gym Leader eventually had to flee the city when more ShadowNet grunts appeared from their regional-HQ which was situated near the Gym.

The ShadowNet grunts attacking Ecruteak City also noticed the lack of resistance. It seemed that Morty and Falkner did not come to Ecruteak when Violet City fell. With sighs of relief, the ShadowNet grunts began the attack on the city, destroying the Pokémon Center, the Gym, and even the entrance to the Tin Tower.

By 9:45 am, the ShadowNet grunts have completely taken Ecruteak City, and awaited further orders. Thus, within 45 minutes of commencing the operation, the Johto branch of ShadowNet had successfully taken over central Johto…

The next targets were Mahogany Town, Olivine City, and New Bark Town…

…

Meanwhile…

…

L: Good. Our assault teams have successfully taken over Violet City and Fortree City. And I hear that we also have Cherrygrove City as well. Though Falkner escaped, Winona is dead. The Gym Leaders of Hoenn will be in disarray long enough for us to completely take that region. … Winona _is_ dead, right?

D: Our assault teams did not find her body, though they did find what's left of her helmet. Seeing how there's quite a bit of blood on the helmet, it's safe to assume that she's dead.

L: Very good. Before long, the Hoenn Gym Leaders are going to have a meeting, and we'll use that helmet to force some of them to surrender. If they believe that we have Winona captive, they would not resist too much.

D: Brilliant, sir.

L: Our next objectives are to take out the regions' champions. They are the biggest threat to us now. Have all our new recruits head over to Celestic Town once they finish training. Have them destroy the town. The champion of that region will appear. Then, with the waiting assault squads, attack. Several of our assault squads in Hoenn are attempting an attack on Sootopolis. If all goes well, we'll get both Wallace and Steven in one fell swoop. The Johto assault squads will search for Lance after securing the region. Leave the region of Kanto alone for now. All the Dex Holders are still there. We'll wait for them to separate before we strike at them. Taking out the Dex Holders one at a time would be best, but two at a time works too. Leave them alone if more than two are in the same place.

D: But… they're just kids!

L: Haven't you read anything about them? A trio of Dex Holders was always enough to save a region _and_ destroy an evil team. Hell, in Hoenn, a _pair_ of Dex Holders did that. And now, they're even stronger. So don't underestimate them.

D: Yes sir.

L: When the time comes, we'll have the means of dealing with them. In that regard, how's the research project 05-032 coming along?

D: It is going well sir. We have yet to test it though. But in theory, it should work perfectly.

L: In that case, use that prisoner we got during our operation on Violet City. After she goes through the torture room, of course.

D: About the torture room… the two failed scouts are crippled now. I thought it was just a name…

L: What I meant was that the torture room is actually a chamber. Anyways, if the scouts are crippled, then use them for the 05-032 project too.

* * *

><p><strong>Operation: UPPERCUT is finally underway. And my very first original non-evil character has appeared! … for a short while before she got overrun, anyways. The others will fare better, and this one will come back later… And yes, Whitney sucks. When Suicune was challenging the Johto Gym Leaders back in the GSC arc, it didn't bother with Whitney at all… and chose Misty to be its temporary master instead, who soon kicks Whitney's ass in the Gym Leader exhibition match. Whitney sucks.<strong>

**Also, I don't give a damn that the HGSS games say "Bell Tower". It's still Tin Tower to me. We already have a Sprout Tower. We don't need a Bell Tower (because Bellsprouts suck).**

**And the whole 'torture room being just a name' thing is a reference to something else. Namely… Person 1: "I thought it was just a name!" Person 2: "What they meant was that Monster Island is actually a **_**peninsula**_**."**

**Note: the appearing Espeon had the ability Magic Bounce. Thus moves like Confuse Ray, Supersonic, and Thunder Wave get reflected back at the attacker. A damn-awesome ability, courtesy of Generation V.**

**Also, the ShadowNet commander's quotes are based on: attack when the enemy is not prepared (**攻其無備**), advance when the enemy least expect it (**出其不意 **(alternately, attack where the enemy least expect it)), and fast thunder does not give you time to cover your ears (**疾雷不及掩耳**). So, basically: "like a fast thunder that doesn't give you time to cover your ears, we'll strike before they have time to get ready."**

**And the 'current good guy KIA (killed in action)/MIA (missing in action) list': Winona, Falkner, Whitney, Morty.**

**Read below after you've seen the 'MISC' in SE #024: The Set Up II.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

An old couple stood in the corner of their house as they watched the wreckage within their house. It was as if something fell from the sky and hit their house.

Afraid that it might be some hostile Pokémon, the old man grabbed a broom and with the handle pointed ahead, carefully approached the wreckage. The old man began to push chunks of the ceiling out of the pile of smashed wood, and soon found something. The old man quickly pushed away the remnants of the ceiling (and roof) until he uncovered what was underneath.

A young woman, actually. The woman had long lavender hair and was wearing a white shirt, a blue vest, and white pants. She also had half of a helmet on, which was oddly bent and was covered in blood. The woman herself was badly bleeding from various wounds and a huge one caused by a thick branch that had stabbed into her shoulder.

The old man quickly dragged the woman out of the wreckage. The woman wasn't moving or breathing at all. Her face was nearly covered in blood by a gash on the side of her head. The old man quickly removed the remains of the helmet while the old lady wiped away some of the blood from the young woman's face with a paper towel. The old man shook the woman by her unwounded shoulder, and receiving no response, checked her pulse…

* * *

><p><strong>Keep in mind that the WCHB moments are moments that have been removed from the actual chapters. So just because something happened in a<strong>** WCHB, it doesn't mean it happened in the actual story. For this chapter, the WCHB moment was removed from the actual story because I didn't like the idea of minor, nameless, faceless, wordless, and description-less background characters discovering something major.**


	9. To the Hunt

**The delayed answer to a question (forgot to answer in the previous chapters): (WARNING: PLATINUM SPOILER) Diamond still has his Regigigas (nicknamed Gi or Ghee or… whatever. Gi as in Regi-GI-gas (duh)), though it's not listening to him. It's not thrashing around, but it has its back turned to him and won't come out of the Pokéball. He didn't even catch the stupid thing (technically, Platinum did), so might as well throw it out…**

**Well, might as well throw in a MISC: Regigigas. Such a useless thing… even in Pokémon Special. All it did in Spear Pillar was save Diamond from sacrificing himself and put a chokehold on Dialga and Palkia for one scene. A few scenes later, it's down on the ground, after having been smacked down very quickly. And compared to some of the other Legendary Pokémon, what can a rampaging Regigigas do? Distort Space-Time in an entire region? Flood a region? Burn a region in an intense drought? Blast an enemy with a vacuumed air blast or burn that enemy into a crisp with some magical fire? Regigigas sucks… There's a reason why that thing is allowed in the Battle Frontier of the 4****th**** and 5****th**** generation games, despite the fact that it has stats to rival Groudon and Kyogre. The stupid thing can't even learn Protect and Rest via TMs (**_**everything**_** that can learn TM moves can learn Protect and Rest…). Can't learn Rest? That means Regigigas can't go to sleep on its own. What the hell?**

**Anyways, in SA and SE, Diamond won't have Regigigas, under the assumption that he'll let it go sometime within the Platinum arc. Well, he'd better let it go. Some Legendaries are worth keeping. Some are not.**

**Enough yakking about the useless thing… here's SA #009: To the Hunt.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: To the Hunt<p>

9:30 am, Pallet Town…

Completely unaware of the fate Azalea Town was suffering, or the fate that would befall on Ecruteak City in 15 minutes, the Dex Holders were still enjoying the day at the beach. Ruby and Sapphire had managed to throw Emerald into the water. The ex-Johto boy was laughing as his fellow Hoenn Dex Holder flailed around in the water when Sapphire betrayed him and threw him into the water as well.

Platinum watched her three Hoenn seniors before she approached Crystal, who was sitting in the shade, lost in thought. No one was near the Johto girl, so the heiress was free to ask the question she wanted to ask for quite some time.

"Senior Crystal, may I ask you a question?" the heiress asked.

Crystal snapped out and looked at her junior. "Sure."

"I have wanted to ask this question for some time… Do you know the contents of the memory storage device I brought from Sinnoh?" Platinum asked. "You did not seem surprised in any way when Professor Oak found the storage device in the map Professor Rowan had issued to me."

Crystal started to hesitate. "Well… um… I know of it, but… … Sorry, I'm not allowed to tell you."

"Oh… I understand," Platinum said. To her credit, she didn't sound or look disappointed at all.

"But when I'm allowed to tell people, you'll be the first."

"Hey Crys, come here for a second," came Blue's voice from behind. "You too, Platinum."

The two girls quickly jogged towards their senior, wondering why the Kanto Dex Holder called for them. Beside the Kanto girl was Gold, who was grinning. Crystal prepared herself. Gold grinning was never a good sign.

"Platinum, you're going to start your journey around Kanto after lunch, right?" Blue asked. The heiress nodded. "And Gold and Crys were supposed to go with you. But right now, Dia and Pearl are also here, and I assume you want to travel with them, right?"

"Yes, senior," Platinum replied. She looked at Diamond and Pearl who were approaching.

"In that case, how would you like to travel with all four?" Blue asked. "That way, you'd be able to travel with your friends and your seniors at the same time. A group of five seems a little big, but I don't see that much of a problem."

Platinum gladly accepted. "I would be honored to have the opportunity to travel with my seniors, and I am glad to be able to travel with my friends at the same time."

"That's great then!" Blue exclaimed. "In that case, Crys, you remember the results of the game we played, right?"

The Johto girl glared at Gold. '_You better not have said anything, you jerk…_'

"Starting right now, I order you to become Gold's… _slave_, I guess, until Platinum obtains all 8 Kanto Gym Badges!"

Gold burst into laughter while Crystal stared at her senior in disbelief.

"… You're joking, right?"

Blue grinned. "You'll have to do whatever Gold tells you to, and if you disobey his orders, then… I'll have to do something about that, won't I?"

"But… come on! That's just… no!"

"Don't worry, Crys. I won't abuse the power too much," Gold said from beside.

Crystal took a step as if she was going to kick the goggled boy in the head, but Gold already had his billiard cue out, ready to block.

"Why you…"

"My first order to you is… Don't kick me. Ever," Gold said as he put his billiard cue away. "Second order is… Get me a glass of water. Oh, this is going to be _so _much fun!"

Crystal sighed. "Seriously Gold… you _will_ be the death of me…"

"Aw, don't say that, Crys. You know I won't hurt you."

As the Johto girl walked away to get Gold a glass of water, Green approached Blue.

"You're going back to the Sevii Islands," he said as he stood beside her. Blue couldn't tell whether it was a question, a statement, or an order. Sounded like an order, though…

"If you order me so," Blue said with a fake sigh. She turned to face Green with a smile. "I'm just kidding. But yeah, I'm going back home after lunch. Why?"

"My grandfather wants me to show you something before you go," Green replied. "He would have told me to do so sooner, but he kept forgetting."

The Gym Leader turned and started to walk away. Blue quickly followed. She asked where he was taking her, but he didn't reply. After a few minutes of walking in silence, Green stopped in some neighborhood. Blue looked at the surrounding houses and noticed something.

"Seem familiar?" Green asked. Blue didn't reply, as she was at a loss for words. She silently approached one particular house. Green looked at the house and the address. "According to my grandfather, that house is where you lived before Pryce had Ho-oh kidnap you."

Blue looked at her old house and front lawn, remembering some of the happy moments in her life before everything went wrong. Green slowly started to walk back, trying to leave Blue alone with her nostalgic memories.

"Wait…" the Kanto girl said silently. Green stopped and turned to look at her. "… Don't go…"

The Gym Leader put his hands in his pockets and waited. Blue put her hands over her heart and took a deep breath. Even the air felt nostalgic…

"Thanks Green," she said a few seconds later as she turned to face him.

"For what?"

"This wasn't Professor Oak's idea, was it?"

"… Does it matter?"

"It does." Blue smiled warmly at him. "Thanks again."

"Whatever."

Green turned and walked away, and Blue followed after memorizing the address and location of her old house.

Back at the beach, Platinum sat beside Diamond and Pearl with her feet in the water. Diamond was sitting right beside her and Pearl was beside him. Diamond chose to believe that it was not a random coincidence that the heiress had chosen to sit beside him (and not Pearl).

As the three Sinnoh Dex Holders talked, Sapphire came and sat beside Platinum. The Hoenn girl put her feet into the water as well.

"Ah, senior Sapphire," Platinum started as she looked at her senior. "How did you like Diamond and Pearl's comedy act?"

"It was really funny," Sapphire replied. "But hey, rookie, you seem really happy today. You looked a little sad yesterday. You must've really missed your friends, huh?"

"Yes, senior," Platinum replied. She smiled at her two friends sitting beside her. "To be completely honest, I did feel lonely and rejected…"

Sapphire patted her junior on the back. "Well… you won't feel rejected now, would you? I mean… all you got to do is spend more time with your seniors…"

Without warning, Sapphire pushed Platinum into the water. The water was deep enough to reach up to the heiress's neck, and as a result, she was completely soaked. Sapphire was laughing while Platinum was trying to get over the shock of entering the cold water.

"How's the water, rookie?" Sapphire asked.

Platinum smiled before she dived underwater for a few seconds. After resurfacing, she wiped away the water on her face and looked at her senior.

"It is very cool." The heiress approached her senior. "You should experience it too, senior!" she yelled as she grabbed her senior's feet and dragged her into the water as well.

Sapphire quickly resurfaced and wiped away the water from her face. She looked at her junior playfully. "Oh, you are going down!"

Platinum let out a playful laugh as her senior tried to chase her. Diamond and Pearl watched the heiress for a few seconds before they glanced at each other. The two Sinnoh boys removed their scarves and jumped into the water.

While the Dex Holders played and enjoyed the peace, a ShadowNet grunt watched from a forest far away with binoculars, observing their movements. So far, the Dex Holders seemed to be completely unaware of the existence of ShadowNet…

…

10:00 am, Sootopolis City…

…

Wallace stood outside his/his master's Gym, enjoying the view of the calm, relaxing lake that covered a huge portion of Sootopolis. The Gym Leader/champion considered in calling Winona. Wallace knew that she was probably stressed from having to deal with a festival in her city, so it would help her greatly to just hear someone tell her to relax. But unfortunately, Winona had warned him to not call her unless it was an emergency. The Fortree Gym Leader apparently didn't want him to make any more attempts at trying to get her in a relationship.

Wallace decided to go visit Winona instead. He couldn't call her unless it was an emergency, but apparently, the Fortree Gym Leader hadn't banned visits. Wallace took his Pokégear and input the numbers that would bring his air car to him.

But before he could get into his air car, something exploded with a loud thud, causing the mini-island (where the Gym is located) to shake. Wallace quickly looked around, and spotted a horde of Aerodactyls and other Flying types flooding the skies. The flock began bombarding the city with Hyper Beams and other attacks. The first loud thud had been the opening attack from the leading Aerodactyl.

The door of the Gym opened and Juan appeared, who was wondering what the commotion was about.

"Master, they're attacking the city!" Wallace said as he pointed at the huge flock of attacking Pokémon.

Juan looked at the invading Pokémon and sent out his Kingdra. Wallace sent out his entire team, and with his master, began to prioritize targets.

The leading ShadowNet grunts attacking the city were invited with a hail of Water Pulses. The grunts behind them ordered their Pokémon to spread out. The two Sootopolis Gym Leaders could see that a small portion of the Flying types had their owner riding on top. The targets of the Water Pulses were naturally the Pokémon carrying the people.

The ShadowNet commander noticed the difference in the invasion of Sootopolis compared to Fortree. There were several key differences. First, the assault group in Sootopolis was significantly smaller than in Fortree. Second, there was one Gym Leader, and she wasn't the region's champion. Third, the assault group in Fortree had Pokémon with type advantage against the Gym Leader's main type, while the group in Sootopolis did not. And last, the Fortree Gym Leader was distracted, tired, and was attacked before she knew what was happening.

The should-have-been-expected-but-wasn't-resistance made the ShadowNet commander think of a new tactic…

"Everyone, stand down!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The grunts nearby heard the order and passed them on to the others.

Wallace and Juan watched as the attacking horde suddenly stopped and simply flew around in a circle around the Gym. One particular Pidgeot slowly came close and landed in front of the two Gym Leaders. Juan's Kingdra eyed the Pidgeot and the surrounding Pokémon carefully. A man jumped off of the Pidgeot, carrying a plastic bag in hand.

"As to be expected from the Hoenn champion and his master," he said as he applauded the two Gym Leaders.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" Wallace asked. His Sealeo and Seaking remained on guard, ready to blast anything that moved.

"Let's just say that we're a group called ShadowNet, and we want you and your master out of our way. There are many ways for you to do that, I'm sure. One method is for us to try to overpower you, or the other method is you simply leaving the region."

Before Wallace could reply, the ShadowNet commander reached into the plastic bag and pulled out something and tossed it in front of the two Gym Leaders… The Hoenn champion soon fell into shock. He was looking at the shattered and bloodied half of Winona's helmet…

"Master… is… is that what I think it is?"

"Stay calm, Wallace," Juan said quietly so that only his disciple may hear. "You must not show your weakness here." He stared at the ShadowNet commander. "If I recall, the young lady who owns that helmet was supposed to be watching over a festival today. How uncouth of you to ambush a distracted young woman in greater numbers."

"Spare me the lectures, old man. All you need to know is that you have ten minutes to leave this city and a day to leave this region. If you don't comply, then let's just say that the owner of this helmet won't nearly be as healthy as she is now."

Juan glanced at Wallace and took notice of his expression. After a second, he withdrew his Kingdra. The Hoenn champion was in no condition to fight, as he was currently devastated. And as a result, his Pokémon would not be able to fight. Morale and momentum were very important in battles. And with Wallace and his Pokémon unable to help, Juan knew that he wouldn't be able to fight as effectively.

"Very well then. We will leave," he said calmly. "However, if you have any sense of honor and if you do not wish to see us again, you will let the young lady go."

The ShadowNet commander smirked. "Of course."

Juan approached his disciple's air car. "Come, Wallace," he said as he entered the driver's seat.

The Hoenn champion, who was holding the bloodied helmet with trembling hands, glared at the ShadowNet commander for a second before he entered the passenger's seat. He continued to glare at the commander until the air car moved far away from him.

"Master… shouldn't we find out where they're keeping Winona?" he asked as the air car left the boundaries of Sootopolis City. "We shouldn't be running away like this…"

"We are not running away," Juan replied. "You are in no condition to fight. You know that." He looked at his disciple. "The last time the young lady was held hostage, you could not fight. Right now, you know that something bad had happened to her, and that she is in the hands of this ShadowNet. You will not be able to fight this time. Unless…"

Wallace looked at his master. He looked as if he was trying to make a hard decision.

"Unless what?"

Juan sighed. "I do believe that that ShadowNet fellow was bluffing. If he really did have the young lady hostage, then he would have shown her to us. Instead, he simply showed us her bloodied helmet. That means either she escaped, or… was killed."

Wallace froze. "… Dead? … No… she can't be…"

Juan was about to say something when he noticed an Altaria flying closer. He flew the air car down onto a small island in Route 124. Wallace wondered why his master was lowering the car when he saw the Altaria as well. Though the Humming Pokémon flew straight to Sootopolis from Fortree, by the time it got there, ShadowNet had already 'convinced' the two Gym Leaders to leave. So the Altaria followed the air car, as it had nowhere else to go. Seeing the Altaria by itself and seeing its expression, Wallace fell into shock once again.

"No… she's really gone…"

The moment the air car landed, Wallace jumped out and looked at the Altaria a little closer. The Humming Pokémon kept its head down and looked as if it was going to cry at any moment. Juan saw the devastated look on his disciple and cleared his throat.

"A gentleman's revenge is not late even if it takes 10 years. We will bide our time. If we remain quiet and unseen, this ShadowNet will become arrogant. And depending on what they hope to accomplish, there will be a time for us to figuratively remove the ladder when they are on the roof."

Wallace didn't reply and didn't respond at all to his master. He simply stood there with a blank look. Juan took out his Pokégear and began to make calls. Though ShadowNet did take out the main communications tower in Lilycove City, they apparently didn't know that the Hoenn Gym Leaders and the Pokémon Association had a secondary communications center (which only they could use) within New Mauville.

…

10:40 am, New Bark Town, Johto…

…

Professor Elm sat in front of the picture phone, wondering why it wasn't working. He wanted to know how the research of the package from Sinnoh was going, but for some reason, he was unable to contact Professor Oak, or anyone else.

"Professor, something odd is happening," youngster Joey said as he entered the room. "I can't call anyone."

"I have that problem too," the professor replied. "I wonder if the radio and communication tower in Goldenrod City is experiencing a power failure."

Just then, there was a loud thud from the outside which shook the entire lab. The professor quickly ran outside to see what the thud was about, and youngster Joey followed. Outside, the skies of New Bark Town were filled with all sorts of Flying types as ShadowNet bombarded the town with Hyper Beams and Air Cutters (occasional Air Slashes). Professor Elm reasoned that whoever the owners of the violent Pokémon were, they could not be on the good side. He reasoned that they were probably in New Bark to either take over the town or to steal his research notes. Either way, in order to prevent any data from falling into enemy hands, the professor ran back inside his lab to take all the important documents.

Youngster Joey volunteered to stall for the professor, but there was very little a boy and a Rattata could do against a horde of Flying types. At most, he could only have his Rattata try to hit the airborne targets with Quick Attack.

Just as ShadowNet began to feel the annoyance of the youngster, Professor Elm returned from his lab, and with the youngster, quickly ran east. The best hope the professor had of escaping the attackers was to get to Kanto…

…

ShadowNet Johto HQ, Goldenrod City…

…

"We have orders to test the research project 05-032 on this prisoner. Are the preparations complete?" the Johto commander asked.

"Yes commander," replied the grunt from beside.

The commander looked into the giant glass cage, where the prisoner girl was. She was currently banging on the glass with her fist, demanding her release. The girl soon stopped and dropped onto the floor of the cage as she rubbed her sore fist. The door to the cage slowly opened and a ShadowNet grunt entered. The girl glared at him and forced herself to rise to her feet. But before she could, the grunt kicked her back down.

The grunt tried to put something on the girl's face, but she kicked him in the knees to push him away. The grunt gritted his teeth and kicked the girl in the ribs.

The girl couldn't see what happened next. All she knew was that the ShadowNet grunt had placed some kind of a heavy black piece of leather (or so it felt) on her face.

"You're going to regret this when my brother finds out!" the girl yelled angrily.

"Where is he?" the grunt asked.

"Go screw yourself. I'll never tell you."

The ShadowNet commander pressed a button on the machine beside him. He looked into the glass cage observantly. A second later, the girl started to scream as she rolled on the floor, clawing at the black leather-like stuff on her face. The grunts watched with interest as the black leather-like stuff turned white and hardened. The girl stopped thrashing and was now lying on the floor motionless.

"Crap… is she dead?" the commander asked.

The grunt inside the cage checked. "No, she's still breathing."

"Oh very good then. Proceed with the test."

The grunt inside the cage nodded and approached the girl. "Rise." The girl suddenly rose to her feet, and the ShadowNet commander grinned at the success. "Now, tell me where your brother is."

The girl remained silent for a second before she spoke. "Route 120… Hoenn… heading to… Lilycove City…" the girl muttered out. Her voice sounded unnatural…

"What's his name?" the grunt asked.

Suddenly there was a spike in the status monitor and the girl twitched. The hardened white material on her face started to expand and stretched down to her hands. The bulk of the material moved off of her face and formed a lump between her neck and left shoulder. Her red eyes were blank but oddly eerie.

"What's his name?" the grunt asked again.

With a growl that sent shivers down everyone's spines, the girl suddenly attacked the grunt. The hardened white material had formed some kind of an exoskeleton on her arms, and the girl smashed them onto the grunt. With the sound of bone snapping, the grunt dropped.

"Oh, fuck!" the commander yelled. "Hit the stabilizer!" he yelled to the grunt beside him. The grunt did as told and the girl stopped moving. But she twitched again and slammed her forearm into the glass, creating a large crack on the glass. "Why isn't it working?"

The commander tried shutting off all the machines, but it did nothing to stop the girl's rampage. As a result, the commander had no choice but to send a team of grunts to forcefully hold the girl down. The girl immediately stopped thrashing when one of the grunts punched and shattered the lump near her neck.

"Whew…" one of the grunts muttered. He looked at the fallen grunt beside him. "He's in a very bad shape…"

"Get him to the infirmary," the commander ordered. "And get all the scientists and researchers who worked on this project to fix this thing as soon as possible. What the hell were they doing? The stabilizer doesn't do crap!"

"What about the girl?" a grunt asked from beside.

"Lock her in a cage and see what happens when she wakes up." The commander sighed. "And try to hunt down her brother. The girl gave us quite a trouble in Violet City. If her brother is stronger than her, and he ends up assisting those Dex Holders, we could be screwed. Contact the Hoenn branch and tell the Hoenn commander about this. He'll know what to do."

* * *

><p><strong>A true gentleman's revenge is not late even if it takes 10 years (<strong>君子復仇 十年不晩**), a tactic which makes the enemy arrogant (**驕兵之計**), and the phrase "raise someone onto a roof then remove the ladder" (**上屋抽梯**). The last two basically mean the same in terms of tactics. **

**For those who missed it, SA and SE now have things called "What Could Have Been" moments. Check out the 'MISC' in SE #024: The Set Up II for details, and check the WCHB moments for all the previous chapters of SA (except for SA #002: Reveille, as there is no WCHB moment). And leave reviews for those WCHB moments too. Thanks.**

**Also, if you have any thoughts that contradict the MISC above (as in, know of a useful Regigigas), do let me know. I do have an Adamant one with good IVs, but I haven't a clue as to what to do with it. Thanks to Slow Start, at level 100, the stupid thing's going to have 230 Attack and 149 Speed, even if it has perfect IVs in those stats. Anything with base Speed greater than 25 (such as… **_**Snorlax **_**(30), Regirock/ice/steel (50), etc) will outrun Regigigas for the first five turns, assuming the slow-ass things were EV raised for Speed. Once again, Regigigas sucks ass.**


	10. Journey's End

**MISC: Accessories. Generation 1: what accessory? Generation 2: the Pokégear. Basically a cell phone of the Pokémon world. Everyone (or just about) in all the regions have one. Ruby used a Pokégear to contact Mr. Briney (if I recall) and Platinum used one when her butler called. Generation 3: Pokénav (or Pokénavi). A portable GPS system with a call function (and a bunch of others). It seems a little… big for cell phone use. Generation 4: Pokétch. A watch with some… unnecessary functions. A Coin Toss application? Even in the games (unless you are doing some… questionable things, such as abusing the game's random number generator (which I do every so often)), the Coin Toss application is utterly useless…**

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Journey's End<p>

12:00 pm, Lilycove City, Hoenn…

3 ShadowNet assault squads patrolled the city in the air while 7 squads searched the intact buildings. The Hoenn commander had received a message from the Johto commander, and had agreed to assign 10 squads the task of capturing the Johto prisoner's brother. The task was… not easy. All the squads knew was that there was a guy around Lilycove who had a sister traveling around in Johto. They didn't know whether the brother was older or younger than the prisoner girl, or anything about him. The squads didn't know much of the girl either.

"So we're looking for a brother of a girl who has black hair and red eyes, was traveling around in Johto, and has an Espeon…" one of the grunts muttered as he looked around the streets of Lilycove City.

"… That could be anyone," another grunt muttered. "This is bullsh*t. We should be with the other assault teams in Mossdeep and other cities."

"Actually, from what I heard, the other assault teams aren't doing anything exciting either," said the third grunt. "The assault teams in Mossdeep say that the city's Gym Leaders weren't there. The guys in Lavaridge and Mauville say the same. The news is out somehow… The Gym Leaders know that we're coming. … Either that, or we've conveniently decided to strike at their cities when they were on vacation."

A few blocks away, another squad of ShadowNet grunts entered the Lilycove Department Store, which had been left intact by the assault teams that swept the city shortly before. The Department Store had lots of supplies that ShadowNet needed, thus the commander had ordered the assault teams to leave the building alone.

Now, all the 'refugees' from the destroyed Pokémon Center and Contest Hall were gathered in the first floor, wondering what was happening. But it was chaotic in there, as everyone was panicking. The ShadowNet grunts seriously doubted that there would be anyone threatening in the building, but tried to do their jobs anyways.

The grunts searching the Lilycove Art Museum had much better luck. There were only 7 people inside, and they were all sitting quietly and looking at various paintings despite the whole ShadowNet invasion.

"Excuse me!" one ShadowNet grunt yelled loudly. "Can I have everyone's attention?" But surprisingly, only two people turned to look in his direction. The other 5 didn't even budge. "Hey!" the grunt yelled at them.

"Those people are deaf," one of the two reacting people said. "They can't hear you, so stop yelling."

The ShadowNet grunt turned to look at his teammates. "… The guy we're looking for… is it possible that he's deaf?"

"I don't know. We should find out if the one we're looking for is one of them."

The first grunt took a piece of paper and wrote a question on it. He then went to the 5 deaf people and showed them the question while the other grunts asked the two non-deaf people.

"Does anyone have a sister who's traveling in Johto?"

The five deaf people all shook their heads in response to the written question and resumed looking at the artworks.

"No, I don't," said one of the other two people.

"Well… I do," said the other.

The ShadowNet grunts looked at the person. He looked about 20 years old, so it was possible that he would have a sister about 15 years old.

"What's your name?"

"Dave."

"How old is your sister, Dave?"

"16 years old."

"Long black hair and red eyes?" asked the grunt. "Has an Espeon?"

Dave nodded. The ShadowNet grunt was about to get his fellow grunts to take Dave down when he spoke. "Wait… no, not black hair and red eyes. She has red hair and black eyes. And she did have an Espeon until she traded it away to someone for a Magikarp…"

The ShadowNet grunts looked dumbfounded. "… Who the hell has red hair and black eyes? And who in their right mind would trade an Espeon away for a Magikarp?"

Dave sighed. "She dyed her hair red. I don't know why. And I don't know why she traded away her Espeon when it's been with her for 5 years. The Magikarp was yellow, but… that still doesn't explain why she traded away a green Espeon. Don't ask!"

The ShadowNet grunts looked at each other and shrugged. "This clearly isn't the guy we're looking for. The guy we're looking for his probably a lot smarter."

"Hey!" Dave yelled. "My sister, who I hope will remain healthy, is a moron. But that doesn't mean I'm anything like her!"

"Whatever. Thanks for all your… help, sir," said a grunt. He headed out of the Art Museum and the other grunts followed. "Well, that was… productive. I don't think the guy's in Lilycove. He probably headed for Fortree or something after we took over this city."

Just outside the museum, they could see 3 more grunts surrounding a guy (who looked around 18 years old) who was sitting on a bench with a book. Because of the angle, the museum-grunts could only see that the guy on the bench had black hair, a white cap, black pants and a black jacket. The museum-grunts walked over towards the bench to see what was going on.

"Look you, I don't know who you think you are, but you better cooperate," said one of the bench-grunts.

"Hey, I don't know who you are, but just go away, would you? I've been reading the same freaking sentence in my book for the last three minutes," the boy said. "And the plot's getting interesting."

A ShadowNet grunt yanked the book away and tossed it behind. The boy sighed as he looked at his bookmark lying on the bench beside him. He then stood up, and reaching into his pocket, glared at the grunts.

"Oh, you bastards…"

…

Route 1, Kanto, 2 pm…

…

Platinum was busy talking to her friends as she headed towards Viridian City while Gold and Crystal followed from behind. In order to conserve some time in traveling around Kanto, the Sinnoh trio were riding their foldable bicycles while Crystal was on her Meganium and Gold on his skateboard.

The goggled boy was busy thinking of new orders for Crystal while the Johto girl sighed at the oncoming darkness. The jerk had ordered her to _brush his teeth for him_ after lunch, and Crystal had struggled with the urge to shove the toothbrush down Gold's throat. Now, she was afraid of the possible tasks the moron would give her.

Gold sped up so he could talk to Platinum, leaving Crystal fuming in the cloud of dust he created with his skateboard.

"Hey, Proto-Gal, where's the first Gym that you're going to challenge?"

"Since senior Green had given me the Earth Badge, I believe that my first destination is the Pewter Gym. And I also believe that the Gym Leader specializes in Rock types, like Mr. Roark in Sinnoh's Oreburgh Gym."

"Roark, huh?" Diamond muttered. He somehow managed to reach into his bag and withdraw the Roark-mask he wore back in the days and put it on his face all while riding a bicycle (hands free) and looking at the heiress. "That shouldn't be a problem, Lady. You beat Roark years ago, and you're much stronger now."

"By that logic, I would not have many problems with the Cerulean Gym," Platinum started, and Diamond put on a Crasher Wake mask (which he never used the first time, worn on top of the Roark mask). "Vermillion Gym (Volkner mask, also never used), or the Celadon Gym (Gardenia mask)." Diamond said something, but Platinum couldn't hear him as his voice was muffled by the four masks (which overlapped to completely cover his face). "Diamond, I cannot hear you. Would you please remove the masks?"

Diamond took off the four masks and after stuffing them back in his bag (with both his hands still not on the bicycle handles), spoke again.

"I was saying that you won't have problems in this region."

Crystal sped up with her Meganium and silently ordered the Herb Pokémon to stomp on Gold's skateboard, sending the goggled boy flying backwards. An… _accident_.

"Hey Platinum, are you going to train before your Gym Battles?" Crystal asked.

"Yes, senior."

"In that case… I can help you," the Johto girl said after a brief moment of thought. "After all, I do have every Pokémon the Gym Leaders have, and I have seen most of them battle during the Gym Leader Exhibition Match years ago."

Platinum looked overjoyed. "Oh, thank you, senior! I would be honored to train with you!"

"SUPER SERIOUS GAL!" Gold yelled from behind.

Crystal looked back and saw the goggled boy chasing after her with all his might. '_Uh oh…_' "Hey Gold, where'd you go?" she asked with an innocent look as he skateboarded right beside her.

"Crys, I'm going to tell senior Blue that you purposely sent me flying off my skateboard," Gold said while glaring at her. "What you did was _totally_ uncalled for!"

"Oh, Gold, grow up. You sound really childish," Crystal said with a sigh.

"And now you insult me? Now I'm really telling."

The Johto girl sighed again. "Fine. When we get to the next city, I'll buy you a lollipop or something (Diamond: "Lollipop?")."

"Ha, you dare bribe me? Why Crys, I never thought you were so low!" Gold said with a smirk.

Crystal gritted her teeth and tried to calm her erupting anger. Her face was red from anger, fists were white from clenching too hard, and there was a thick vein that bulged out from her forehead.

"Look at the vein on her forehead… She's going to blow!" Pearl said to Diamond while glancing back at his senior.

Crystal took a shuddering breath and hoped that Platinum would gather all the Kanto Gym Badges quickly. Within two days, at the latest… otherwise, she might _murder_ Gold.

…

Pallet Town…

…

Blue stood quietly, occasionally glancing towards the direction of her old home. She considered in asking her parents whether they could move back to Pallet Town. They'd probably refuse, as the town gave them bad memories… But Blue wanted to move back to Pallet Town. Perhaps she could try to convince them.

She sent out her Wigglytuff and looked at Green, who was looking at the remaining Dex Holders with a blank look. Feeling her gaze, the Gym Leader glanced at her. The Kanto girl signaled him to come closer and hid behind a tree.

"Thanks again Green," she started quietly when Green came towards her. "If… if you're not busy, would you like to come over for dinner? I'm sure my parents would like to get to know you better."

Green looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "… Why?"

Blue looked slightly depressed. "Out of all my friends, you're the only one who refused the offer every time."

"What guarantees do I have that you are not tricking me into one of your schemes?"

Blue remained silent for a few seconds before she sighed. "Please trust me… You can trust me now… My parents were always so far away, but they're close now. But I can't help feeling that in exchange, I'm losing my friends…"

Green noticed the lack of enthusiasm in her voice. Perhaps something bad happened to her recently? Green simply stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Red trusted you, and look what you did to him. Although it was nothing too bad."

Blue looked down in disappointment. "I understand…"

"You do realize that I'm a Gym Leader and that I need to be at my Gym."

"Green, that's a stupid excuse. You're never at your Gym! That's why you have that hologram substitute and your ridiculously strong Pokémon that can fight on their own!"

The Viridian Gym Leader sighed and withdrew a notebook. "I'll consider your offer, though. Let me check my schedule…" He noticed that someone had scratched out "possible Gym Battle" and wrote "thrashing some unlucky kids" in his schedule. Naturally, he glared at Blue. "What else did you do to my notebook?"

Blue looked genuinely confused. "I don't know what you're talking about." She suddenly realized something and looked even more depressed. "But you naturally assume it was me, huh?"

Green examined her expression for a few seconds before he put his notebook away. He peeked around the tree, and after ensuring that no one was around, put his hands on Blue's bare shoulders. "Okay, what's wrong with you today? You're usually a lot more… perky."

Blue sighed. "You can't expect me to keep that façade on forever, do you? There haven't been many reasons for me to smile recently…" She looked up at the Gym Leader's eyes for a split second before she looked away. "Green, did you know that before I dropped in front of Red's house 3 weeks ago, no one had bothered to call or visit me for two months? Silver called at least once a week, but no one else did."

Green put his hands back in his pockets. "I can't explain the lack of calls, but I can explain the lack of visits. You live in a place that isn't easy to go to. You live too far away to visit frequently, but not far enough to go over for a few days. You live a few hours away by ship, but through the air, it's two hours straight over the ocean from Vermillion."

"If… if I move back to Pallet Town…" Blue started.

"Then that would change."

"Okay…" The Kanto girl got her Wigglytuff to inflate and gently hopped on.

Green watched her and shook his head. '_I'm going to hate myself for this…_' "Blue, I'll accept your invitation. State the date and I'll be in One Island that day."

The Kanto girl looked at him in surprise. "Really? … How about today?"

Green sighed. "I gave you my word. Fine. What time?"

Blue smiled faintly. "Right now?"

The Viridian Gym Leader simply sent out his Charizard, as if he expected the whole thing. But as he jumped onto his Charizard, Blue got off of her Wigglytuff.

"What are you doing?" Green asked with a sigh.

"Do you mind if I ride with you?" she asked. "I mean… your Charizard is faster, after all," she added hastily.

'_This is going to be a long day…_' "Fine…"

Silver watched from afar as Green and Blue headed towards One Island. He remembered what the Kanto girl had said to him a few weeks ago, and felt relieved that she wouldn't be so lonely now. He sent out his Honchkrow and prepared to return home.

"Hey, Hoenn guys!" Red yelled. Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald were quite far away from him at that time, but in a blink of an eye, Sapphire was in front of him. The champion wondered whether the Hoenn girl knew how to contract space. "You three came a long way, so… what are you going to do?" he asked once the other two Hoenn Dex Holders arrived in front of him.

"I want to stay with you and train!" Sapphire said excitedly before her fellow Hoenn Dex Holders even had a chance to breathe. "You said that you would train me!"

"What? Nonsense!" Ruby exclaimed. "We have to go to Celadon City's Department Store! They'll have lots of stuff that we can't buy in Hoenn. We'll need to stock up!"

Sapphire glared at him. "No, I'm training!"

Ruby glared back. "No, you're shopping!"

"Training!"

"Shopping!"

"TRAINING!"

"SHOPPING!"

Emerald groaned as he tried his best to cover his ears. "Shut up, the both of you!"

Red looked at Ruby and Sapphire bickering with each other and looked at Yellow for help. Yellow put a hand on Ruby's shoulder to try to get him to calm down. Red tapped Sapphire on the shoulder and instantly, the Hoenn girl stopped and looked at him expectantly.

Red cleared his throat. "Well then… Sapphire, let's train."

The Hoenn girl jumped in joy repeatedly as she said her thanks to her role model. Ruby groaned and put a hand over his face. Yellow tapped her junior on the shoulder to get him to look at her.

"Um… Ruby, how about we go to Celadon City Department Store?" she offered.

"How often do you go shopping?" Ruby asked.

"Basically never."

Ruby slapped a hand over his face. "That… will have to change…"

…

Later that day, Pewter City hotel, 8 pm…

…

Crystal lay on the couch and placed a hand on her forehead. She felt… dizzy. The jackass named Gold had given her more degrading and anger-fueling tasks. He even ordered her to wash his skateboard and his dirty clothes. He claimed that it was her fault that his clothes got dirty and that she had the responsibility of washing them.

And now, Crystal had a severe headache and she had no doubt that her blood pressure had skyrocketed. And as a result, she had been unable to train Platinum for her upcoming Gym Battle. Luckily Pearl offered to take over, and the Sinnoh trio left the hotel to train and challenge Brock. And, if she was lucky, Gold would have left the hotel to do something exciting and leave her alone to rest. But to her horror, Gold came into her vision. The Johto girl quickly pretended to be asleep. The last thing she wanted was another task…

"Hey Crys, I know you're awake," he said.

'_Damn it, Gold…_' "What do you want?" Crystal groaned out.

"Come, I made you dinner," Gold said.

Crystal faced him with a skeptical look. "… Why, did you spit in it?"

"No."

"Is it going to make me sick? Because I'm feeling quite sick already."

"No, no."

"Alright Gold, what's wrong with it? There's no way that you'll make dinner for me unless there was something that your puerile mind would find funny."

"No, no, no! There's nothing wrong with it! I just felt sorry for pissing you off so much today."

"Don't lie to me Gold," Crystal groaned out again. "I'm not in the mood right now."

"Crys, what do I have to do to prove that I have no ill intentions this time?"

"You can't do anything. It's a little too late for that."

Gold sighed. "Fine." He walked away and Crystal started to feel bad. But he'll have to understand her decision. But to her surprise, Gold came back, carrying a small table with a bunch of plates full of food. "Look, I made all this!"

"Wow…" Crystal muttered.

Gold stabbed a spoon into the mound of food on a plate and looked at Crystal. "Open up and say 'ah'!"

Crystal slowly sat up and glared at Gold. "Even if I did want to eat, I'm not crippled, Gold. I'm fully capable of eating by myself."

"Crys, I'm trying to be nice to you for a change."

"… What do you want from me? You'll never do something nice without wanting something in return."

"I don't want anything in return! I'm just being nice. If you don't like it, then I can change," Gold said as he repositioned the spoon so that it appeared as if he was going to launch the spoonful of food into Crystal's face.

Crystal sighed. "Fine… But if this is a trick…" She snatched the spoon from Gold and after preparing herself, put the food in her mouth.

"Well?"

"… It's… it's pretty good, actually," Crystal said after a few seconds. "A lot better than what I expected."

"Ha! I beat your expectation, huh? Well, enjoy the meal."

"… Am I going to have to clean the dishes?"

"No, no. I think I'll make Proto-Gal do it. Or maybe Slow-Bro."

"Who?"

"You know, the guy that's always eating. But that's beside the point. The point is: you should relax for the rest of today."

"Well… thanks, Gold."

…

Two days later, August 13, 11 am…

…

"Hello?" Crystal said into her Pokégear.

"Crystal, this is Green," came the Gym Leader's voice from the other side.

"Oh, hi, Green."

"Where are you?"

"We're currently in Route 12. Platinum, Dia, Pearl, and Gold are looking through the binoculars in the watch tower."

"Crystal, listen carefully, but do not panic. I want you to get those four out of the watch tower, and I need all five of you to return to Pallet Town immediately. Professor Elm arrived an hour ago, and he has some… bad news regarding Johto."

Crystal almost dropped her Pokégear. "Johto? W – What's going on?"

"From what we've been able to piece together, there's an evil team in Johto that's trying to take over that region."

"D – Did anything happen to Violet City?"

"Crystal, just get over here. We've sent Red and Sapphire to Violet City to find out what happened. When they return, we'll let you know."

…

Meanwhile, Canalave City, Sinnoh…

…

"Alright, listen up. Our regional HQ is in Hearthome City, but we don't have the city under control. So squads 1 to 15, head over to Hearthome City and take it over. Squads 16 to 25, take over this city. Any reinforcements we receive will enter Sinnoh through here. Everyone else, we're going over to destroy Celestic Town and deal with the region's champion. Let's move!"

…

Meanwhile …

…

L: What's the status of 05-032?

D: We have another stabilizer for the… rampant problem. It does work, but in a different way. Without the stabilizer, the subjects lose control over themselves and the mind control device goes rampant. The subjects end up attacking everything nearby. But with the new stabilizer, the subjects can go through up to 4 different stages. The very first stage is… unsettling. The subject looks identical to the rampaging form, but can be commanded and will not go into a rampage. The subject is not conscious at this time, but is physically stronger and faster. The second stage occurs when the subjects start to thrash around. We can't give specific commands to them, but we can give them general orders. The third stage looks identical to the subject except the exoskeleton disappears and can reform at will. The subjects in the third stage only have a layer of the exoskeleton material over their faces. The fourth and final stage is when the mind control device completely melds into the subjects. The subjects are in complete control over themselves and can create the exoskeleton at will to take advantage of the boosts in strength.

L: … Wow. So subjects in stage 4 aren't really under our control, now are they?

D: No sir. But luckily, no subject had been able to progress to stage 4. One came close, but it requires tremendous mental strength and willpower to go from stage 3 to 4. We are currently developing an upgrade to the stabilizer to make it impossible to get from stage 3 to 4.

L: Great then. Get every prisoner, useless members, and troops in our HQs to the third stage.

D: Uh… that is not possible at this time, sir. We don't have anywhere near the amount of mind control devices.

L: Right! Well then, let's get working! Time to move on to mass-production!

D: Oh, by the way, should we send some assault teams over to the Sky Pillar?

L: Why?

D: Having Rayquaza under our control would greatly help us crush the opposition.

L: Legendary Pokémon are quite predictable in a way. They'll only awaken to participate in a fight if someone disturbs their rest or someone does something that directly affects them. For example, Mew will interfere with anything only if Mewtwo is involved. For Rayquaza, it will only rise to battle if we try to wake it up. So don't. Besides, if we try to take on Rayquaza right now, we'll be destroyed. Groudon and Kyogre are Pokémon capable of destroying entire regions and Rayquaza is a Pokémon capable of calming those two and possess equal power. We don't stand a chance against that thing.

D: But what if our enemies try to use those Pokémon?

L: They won't be able to. As long as we leave the other Legendary Pokémon alone, no Legendary Pokémon will participate.

D: But…

L: Listen. If we piss off Lugia, then Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres will join the battle. If we piss off Ho-oh, then Raikou, Entei, and Suicune will join. If some crazy bastard within our ranks decides to piss off Arceus, then Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina will all join the battle and we're all going to die. They're the most threatening Pokémon along with Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza. So, _leave them alone_.

D: What about Regigigas?

L: What _about_ Regigigas?

D: Once we have Sinnoh under our control, should we attempt at taking Regigigas? It seems to be the only Legendary Pokémon that won't be able to destroy us or escape.

L: No. At best, having it will only get Regirock, Regice, and Registeel to join the battle. And those three are already captured by someone. So don't bother.

…

/ / FRAGMENT 3/ERROR [RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED PRE-CATACLYSM]

S: ShadowNet finally developed something that we will be able to use. But it's not ready yet. We'll have to wait further.

J: Great. More hiding and waiting. By the way, in the videos of their precious little project 05-032, what's that black thing that turns into that white thing?

S: You don't need to know what the initial black thing is. The white thing is something formed from psychic energy. ShadowNet's mind controlling device works by having the controlling device alter the target's brain waves to gain complete control over the target. The white exoskeleton is the result of the psychic energy traveling through the target's body.

J: By the way, how'd you get the videos anyways?

S: You forget that I have a Pokémon that can blend in to the environment. Stealing a disc is easy.

/ / FRAGMENT ENDS

* * *

><p><strong>And so ends SA #010. Also, the very first Red &amp; Yellow has been posted as SE #025: First Date in case you missed it.<strong>

縮地法**: basically means a method which compresses the land. So someone that knows this not-actually-existing method would be able to travel from place to place much faster than traditional methods. So a person can get from point A to point B as if that person simply folded the in-between distance to a tiny portion.**

**Oh, the current good guy KIA/MIA list: Winona, Falkner, Whitney, Morty, Wallace, Juan, Tate, Liza, Flannery, Wattson. And… I think that's everyone…**

**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: NONE! … for now.**

**Note: what Blue says about trust and parents being far away were her lines (roughly translated and edited) from the Pokémon Special Medley, or rather "The Medley of PokéSp". If you've seen it and like it, then… you'll understand what I'm talking about. If you saw it but did not like it for whatever reason, then… …**

**If you have NOT seen it, then… do watch. Blue's and Platinum's singing voices were just… wow. A shame that Blue's part was the saddest, and the mood created was **_**immediately**_** ruined by Gold's (Hall of Fame, I do believe) entrance… Ruby's and Emerald's voices seemed to be perfect matches for their personalities. Diamond's too, except… he was frustratingly slow… just as he was supposed to be. Have no clue what I'm talking about? Find and watch the medley!**

**Anyways…**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been (cut out to quicken the pace… again, 1 of 2):<p>

Diamond stood behind Emerald, looking for a place to sit. It was lunch time, and the relaxed Dex Holder couldn't wait to start eating. Perhaps he would start with some bread… a croissant, maybe?

"Uh… Dia?" Pearl said from behind.

Diamond started to drool as he thought of eating a giant croissant, such as the one right in front of him… He snapped out when he realized that he was looking at the hair of his senior. But it was too late…

Emerald felt something drip onto his head. Instantly realizing what it was, his temper flared and he slowly stood up. Gold, who saw what happened, burst into laughter.

"Dia, run!" Pearl yelled.

Diamond did as told and ran as fast as he could. But he forgot what he read in Platinum's notebook about Emerald… The Hoenn Dex Holder extended his Magic Hand Extensors to maximum and instantly caught Diamond. Emerald then dragged his victim away from the other Dex Holders, and more specifically, behind a thick tree.

"I regret nothing!" Diamond yelled out before he disappeared from view behind the tree.

(2 of 2)

Gold grinned as he watched the Sinnoh trio look at the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town. He just thought of something… _hilarious_. Crystal would probably disagree, but hey, since Platinum didn't have all 8 Kanto Gym Badges yet, he technically had full command over her.

"Hey, do you want to go inside?" Gold asked, trying to appear casual.

Platinum looked at the Pokémon Tower and nodded. "This tower does seem similar to Sinnoh's Lost Tower, but it would be interesting nonetheless."

Crystal wondered why Gold looked extremely happy, but knew that it couldn't be good. She was about to suggest doing something else, but Gold glared at her and shook his head.

An hour later, Crystal found herself surrounded by thick fog around the fifth floor of the Pokémon Tower, wondering where the exit was. Behind her, Platinum had her hands clasped together over her heart, constantly glancing around with a frightened expression. Diamond and Pearl were standing beside her, but they couldn't do anything about the creepy atmosphere and ominous thumping and creaking sounds. To make things worse, Gold had disappeared a while ago…

"Senior Crystal, may we go outside now?" Platinum asked, fear evident in her voice.

"I've… been trying to find the exit for the past twenty minutes now," Crystal replied.

"Are we lost?" Pearl asked.

"Well… yes. Gold! Are you out there?" Crystal yelled out. The only reply she received was the eerie silence. The Johto girl swallowed nervously and turned to face her juniors. "Did… did Red tell you what happened to him the last time he was here?"

The Sinnoh trio shook their heads. Crystal was about to tell the story when something popped out from behind and grabbed her shoulders. Platinum screamed and Diamond and Pearl instantly jumped into protective positions. But even they looked alarmed and terrified.

"Lady, don't look," Diamond whispered to Platinum. The heiress clenched her eyes shut, but curiosity overcame her and she opened her eyes slightly…

"G – Gold, if… if that's you, I s – swear that I'll… I'll _kill_ you!" Crystal stuttered out, trying to hide the fact that she was scared senseless.

But when she turned around, she ended up screaming. She was looking at the somehow-reanimated skeletal remains of a Machamp, whose skull was right in front of her face. Crystal had turned pale but quickly backed away nonetheless. She looked in horror as the skeletal remains of the deceased Pokémon rose from their graves all around to haunt the living once more…

"S – Senior, what… what is happening?" Platinum asked, absolutely terrified.

Crystal couldn't say anything. She remembered Red telling her about his experiences with the zombie Pokémon and the possessed Green… She felt a hand touch her shoulder from beside and looked. She could see Gold and his Typhlosion out, but their eyes were blank, as if they were possessed…

Platinum screamed again and shut her eyes. She dropped to her knees and started to cry. Diamond knelt beside her and embraced her, so that he could perhaps tell the heiress how he felt before it was too late.

"We're all going to die!" Pearl screamed out.

Crystal started to tremble as the possessed Gold started to reach towards her. The Johto girl screamed and tripped as she tried to back away. She clenched her eyes shut and covered her face with her hands to avoid looking at the horrors…

Then she heard Gold laughing… In a minute, the Johto girl would realize that the Machamp skeleton was a toy, the surrounding zombies were an illusion, and the Gastly that was animating the toy and pretending to be possessing Gold and Explotaro was the oddly colored one she caught to aid Professor Oak's research. 10 seconds afterwards, she would kick Gold so hard that he would be smashed through the wall of the Pokémon Tower…


	11. Trident

**Though I said that SE #026 was over halfway done when SE #025: First Date came out, the chapter is still not done yet. Instead, here's SA #011: Trident.**

**For those who did not yet see the Pokémon Special Medley, here's the... something: **/watch?v=Mbpn-YfUQ1I&feature=related**. Just add the un-bolded gibberish to the end of the most commonly visited video site that begins with a 'Y'. I did not, repeat, did NOT post a video here. Anyways, recommendation: skip to around 1:04. Even if you did see it already, watch it again! There's no harm in that, is there?**

**In the medley, Blue says that her family (**家族**) was always far away, but in SA #010: Journey's End, I had her say parents instead, because… what other family?**

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: Trident<p>

Professor Oak's lab, Pallet Town, August 13, 12:30 pm…

"… So, to avoid being caught or seen, I had no choice but to try to get to Pallet Town on foot," Professor Elm said, finishing his story. "Of course, climbing over the Tohjo Falls wasn't easy at all."

Professor Oak paced around for a few seconds. "How did the evil team manage to accomplish so much without us knowing?"

"I think the first thing they did was take out the communications tower," Elm said after a moment of thought.

"Green, contact Erika and tell her what happened in Johto," Oak ordered. "Tell her that every Gym Leader needs to stay on high alert and protect their cities."

"That won't be enough," Elm said with a sigh. "The enemy attacks in huge numbers."

"Every Gym Leader will have to gather volunteers who are willing to fight the enemy. Every Gym Leader will need to be ready to assist neighboring Gym Leaders whenever possible. I'll contact Professor Birch and Professor Rowan and inform them of what's happening."

"So these guys target Gym Leaders first?" Ruby asked.

"Seems like it," Elm replied.

Ruby withdrew his Pokégear and attempted to call his master. But there was no signal. He tried to call his grand master, but the result was the same. He then tried to call his father, but again, had no luck.

"Is it possible that these guys have Hoenn as well?" Ruby muttered.

Blue looked alerted. If the evil team was first taking out the communications tower, then her parents were potentially at risk, as the communications center of the Sevii Islands was on One Island. She took out her Pokégear and headed for the door so that she could call in private. But just as she reached for the door handle, the door burst open and slammed into her arm, pushing her to the side. Gold and Crystal ran through the open door and headed straight towards Professor Elm. Blue watched silently from behind. She could understand their worries. She rubbed her sore arm and left the room to make her call.

"What happened?" Gold demanded, glaring at Professor Elm. The Johto professor slightly backed away from the enraged Dex Holder. Youngster Joey purposely avoided eye contact and pretended to be lost in deep thought.

"Did anything happen to Violet City?" Crystal asked hastily.

Green signaled them to calm down as he dialed numbers in his Pokégear.

"You! What happened to my mother?" Gold demanded, pointing his billiard cue at Joey.

"I… I'm sorry, Gold," the youngster muttered out. "The entire town was being attacked from the sky. I barely had time to escape with Professor Elm. I didn't have enough time to think about anyone else…"

The goggled boy grabbed the youngster by his throat and lifted him off the ground, with his billiard cue ready to hit him. "So you just left everyone there?"

Crystal quickly put a hand on Gold's shoulder. "Gold, calm down. There was nothing he could do."

"Red, where are you?" Green asked through his Pokégear.

"We're at Violet City."

"Senior, what happened to my mother?" Gold quickly asked, snatching the Pokégear away from Green.

"… Sorry, Gold," came Red's voice a few seconds later. "We encountered some heavy resistance over New Bark Town. To avoid dealing with reinforcements, we had to temporarily back away, and when we came back, we looked for your house. It's… been destroyed…"

Gold dropped the Pokégear and staggered backwards. Crystal picked up the Pokégear and asked her question.

"What about Violet City?"

"There are lots of Flying types patrolling around. The Pokémon Center, the Gym, and… lots of houses have been destroyed."

Crystal started to feel dizzy. "What about… what about my house and Earl's Academy?"

"… Do you really want to know, Crys?" came Red's worried voice. "Your house, along with Earl's Academy, had been destroyed. Sorry…"

Crystal dropped the Pokégear, but this time, Green caught it before it hit the ground. The Johto girl put a hand on her forehead as she started to falter.

"My mother… … and… the orphans too? No… it can't… be…"

Emerald quickly caught his senior as she fainted from shock. Gold glanced at her for a second and his anger erupted once more. He slammed his billiard cue onto the nearest table and left.

Youngster Joey looked at the smashed table and became thankful that Gold did not vent his anger out on him. He thought of trying to comfort the goggled boy, but decided help Emerald move Crystal onto a couch (which Professor Oak had placed so that he could rest during research) instead.

"Red, avoid combat and get back here. We need to think of what we need to do," Green said through the Pokégear.

Before long, Gold returned, having calmed down significantly. He looked at the smashed table and pulled out some money from his pocket. It was enough to fix _and_/or replace the table. The goggled boy then walked over to the couch and moved Crystal so that after he sat, he could rest her head on his lap. He removed her hat and brushed her hair out of her face. With his still-unscathed billiard cue, he pointed at Joey.

"You, go get a wet towel," he said, his voice surprisingly quiet.

The youngster hastily ran to the bathroom and returned with a fresh towel soaked in cold water. Gold folded the towel into a small piece and placed it on Crystal's forehead. Afterwards, he stared at her face with a blank look, as he didn't know what to do or say.

Outside, Blue was relieved that she had managed to contact her parents. It meant that the communication center in One Island had not been attacked, which meant that the enemy had not attacked the Sevii Islands yet.

"Daddy?" she said quietly into the Pokégear. "Is everything okay over there?"

"Yes, everything's perfectly fine here," her father replied. "Why?"

Blue sighed. "There's… another evil team that's trying to take over all the regions. From what I can piece together, Johto and Hoenn are already taken. It'll be a matter of time before they get to the other regions and the Sevii Islands…"

"Oh… I understand," her father said with a sigh. "It's your destiny to fight evil, as you said before. It's who you are. So don't worry about me or your mother."

"But… the enemy would most likely attack One Island first to take out the communications center. So daddy, hide in the shelter in the basement. The enemy might destroy all the houses in One Island. And I don't think trying to leave the island is a good idea. There won't be any way to escape when on a ship. I think hiding in a shelter is the best thing for you."

"Okay. Don't worry about us, Blue. We'll be fine."

Blue smiled a little. "Okay. I'll see you after this mess is over, daddy."

The Kanto girl hung up afterwards and sighed again. Another evil team threatening to take over the world… when would it all end? Then again, she had been training for this kind of event. Blue took a deep breath and made her mind. She was going to try to end this threat as fast as possible. But to do that, she would need Green's help. She was sure that she would be able to create an effective plan with him.

…

30 minutes later…

…

All 13 Dex Holders sat around a large table, waiting for Professor Oak to say something. Professor Elm and youngster Joey sat beside the Kanto professor, also waiting. Crystal had managed to wake up a few minutes ago. Although she was still shaky, she claimed that she was fine and that she was ready. The Sinnoh trio had arrived a few minutes ago as well. Gold had given them his Togekiss, but since it had to carry 3 people, it had to take frequent breaks so it could not return to Pallet Town as quickly.

"First, we need to divide the Dex Holders into teams. That way, we'll be able to dispatch you to multiple areas that need assistance and be sure that you'll be able to work together effectively," Professor Oak said after a moment of thought.

"Why not just divide by regions?" Red asked. "Me, Green, Blue, and Yellow as one team, Gold, Silver, and Crys as another, and so on?"

"No. The teams would be too unbalanced," the professor replied. "You, Green, and Blue are the strongest Dex Holders. If you were to be in the same team, who's going to look out for the younger Dex Holders? Besides, this would be a great opportunity for the younger Dex Holders to work with their seniors. Think. Red, Green, Blue, you three work great together because you've been through many crises together."

"Hmm… I guess that makes sense," Red muttered.

"Right. So, you three will lead your own teams. Yellow, you will assist whatever team that might need help. Now everyone else-"

Gold silently rose to his feet and simply stood behind Red. Silver stood behind Blue, as expected. In a blink of an eye, Sapphire had jumped across the table to stand behind Red. Emerald helped Crystal up to her feet and slowly walked towards Green. Ruby shrugged and stood behind Blue.

Professor Oak saw the teams currently formed. '_Red, Gold __**and**__ Sapphire? That would be one reckless team… Now I need someone calm and smart over there…_' He looked at Platinum, and once she looked back, he looked at Red's team. The heiress understood and stood with Gold and Sapphire.

"Dia, come over here," Blue said, looking at the relaxed Dex Holder. The Sinnoh boy complied, and as a result, Pearl went over to Green's team.

"Good. Now the first thing we should do is retake New Bark Town," Professor Oak started. He glanced at Gold and continued. "Red, take your team and go to New Bark Town. Blue, Green, take your teams to Saffron City and take the Magnet Train to Goldenrod City if you can."

Suddenly, Ruby's Pokégear started to ring. He looked and recognized the number as Juan's.

"Ah, Grand Master!" he said through the Pokégear. "I wasn't able to contact you or Master or my dad. What's happening?" As he listened, his expression darkened. "Master lost the will to… but… why? … … Oh…" Ruby glanced at Sapphire, who was looking at him. "… I understand, Grand Master. … … A senior Dex Holder has the ability to read Pokémon's minds. Perhaps she could be of assistance? … … We are currently in Professor Oak's lab. … … Yes, Grand Master. I understand…"

Ruby soon hung up and looked rather grim. He faced Sapphire and opened his mouth to speak, but closed it before saying anything, as he didn't know how he should tell her the news.

"Ruby… what's wrong?" Sapphire asked with a worried expression.

"Grand Master says that Hoenn is being taken by a team called ShadowNet," Ruby started. "And he says that… the team's first target was… your coach."

Sapphire gasped. "Coach? What… what happened?"

"Grand Master doesn't know what exactly happened. He's currently in the basement of Lilycove Hotel with some of the other Gym Leaders. The Gym Leaders have their own backup communications system in New Mauville, and using that system, they can call us. But we can't call them because we don't have access to the system. Grand Master is sending us a Pokémon that might know what happened to Winona."

Crystal made her way towards the Pokémon storage system and retrieved the Pokémon that Juan and just sent. The Johto girl passed the Pokéball to Yellow. Yellow sent out the Pokémon and noticed that it was an Altaria.

Sapphire saw the Altaria and looked alarmed. "That's… that's Coach's Altaria!"

Yellow put a hand over the Humming Pokémon's head and closed her eyes. Sapphire looked with a horrified expression as her senior started to twitch. Before long, Yellow opened her eyes with a gasp.

"I assume your coach is the lady with the long hair?" she asked Sapphire. The Hoenn girl nodded. "She… she was patrolling her city from high in the air when ShadowNet attacked. She was hit a few times by a Weavile's Ice Punch, and… fell off the Altaria…"

Sapphire stared at her senior with a blank look, her mouth slightly open from shock.

"Grand Master said that ShadowNet showed him Winona's shattered helmet that was covered in blood," Ruby said quietly. "… Sorry, Sapphire."

The Hoenn girl started to tremble. Without warning, she dropped to her knees and started to cry. "No! Coach!" she cried out as she pounded the floor with her fists. After a minute (and smashing several tiles on the floor) of crying, she looked up at Red. "Let me go to Hoenn!" she said, her voice still shaking. "I want to fight!"

"Sapphire, Grand Master says that he will be organizing a force to strike at ShadowNet in Hoenn. He told me to keep you away from there. Don't worry, Sapphire. We'll get ShadowNet."

"I understand how you feel, but you have to stay here," Blue said. "We'll first need to take Johto and clear the enemies in that region. Afterwards, we'll move on to Hoenn."

"But… what about papa?" Sapphire asked. "If I don't go, he'll be in danger… I need to go back home so I can save papa and avenge Coach!"

"Grand Master said that Professor Birch and my parents are in New Mauville right now. Your dad is safe," Ruby said.

Sapphire clenched her teeth, fists, and eyes as more tears threatened to fall. "But… Coach…"

Ruby knelt beside her and put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll avenge her. But right now, we need you to stay focused, Sapphire."

The Hoenn girl wiped away her tears and slowly stood up. She took several shuddering breaths and nodded. Even though she appeared to have understood the situation and was willing to follow with the formed plans, Ruby could see that Sapphire was still upset about the decision. It was possible that she would try to go to Hoenn by herself.

"Slight change of plans," Professor Oak said. "Red team, you're still going to New Bark Town. Blue team, go over to Johto and scout the cities. Avoid fighting as much as possible. Find which cities have the highest concentration of enemies, and what they're planning on doing. Green team, try to establish a communication network of our own. Make sure it can't be traced or interrupted, and that only we have access. Right now, Pokégears registered in Johto and Hoenn won't work. So we need to get around that problem."

"Just the four of us?" Green asked. "It'll be very difficult to establish a communication network."

"I know. I'm going to help as much as possible, and I'll get Daisy, Bill, and Celio to help."

…

Lilycove City, Hoenn, 1:30 pm…

…

"Here I was, minding my own f*cking business, then you bastards showed up and started treating me like sh*t! Go, triple Dragon Pulse!"

ShadowNet grunts took cover behind vehicles and trees to avoid getting nailed by the Dragon Pulse. They watched in shock as several of their aerial Pokémon plummeted after getting hit. One grunt peeked around a tree to look at the enemy. The enemy trainer had 5 Pokémon out, all of them Dragon type.

"A Dragonite, Flygon, Salamence, Garchomp, and… what's that 3 headed thing?"

"How the hell should I know? All I know is that that thing is firing off 3 Dragon Pulses at once!"

"Don't we have any Ice types?" asked the third grunt.

"We _did_. They fell to a hail of Flamethrowers."

"Look!" yelled the fourth grunt. "Let's just… try to get him to calm down. He's clearly not working for the Gym Leaders since he didn't really care about what we were doing. He's pissed off because you morons threw his book away and bothered him!" The grunt picked up the book that was on the ground and shook a piece of blank paper in the air while still hiding behind the tree. "Look!" he yelled to the trainer. "A white flag!"

The trainer's Garchomp hacked the tree into several pieces with Dragon Claw and glared at the grunt. Seeing the white 'flag', the Mach Pokémon led the grunt towards its trainer, while it kept its claws near the grunt's head (in case he attempted anything). The grunt approached the trainer and dropped to both knees. With both hands, he presented the trainer his book.

"We're sorry that we were acting like assholes," said the grunt when the trainer picked up his book. "Now could we stop this meaningless fight?"

"You're the ones who started," the trainer said angrily. He looked at the destroyed buildings in Lilycove City and slammed the book (corner first) onto the grunt's head. He then looked back where quite a few people were gathered. "People of Lilycove City! Look what these bastards did to our city! Let's drive them out before they do any more damage!"

"Wait… "our" city?" the grunt muttered.

"Lilycove City is my hometown!" the trainer yelled. "Ever since you bastards got here, I've been looking for a chance to strike back, and now's the time!" he yelled and slammed the corner of his book onto the grunt's head again.

The people of Lilycove City instantly charged towards the cowering ShadowNet grunts, throwing rocks, sticks, chunks of metal, cinder blocks, and broken glass from destroyed buildings. Some people sent out Fighting type Pokémon to throw some heavier things (like a piece of a wall).

More ShadowNet grunts (ones who were patrolling the city) started to arrive at the scene, and they too, were greeted with a hail of building pieces. The trainer assisted by shooting down most of the Flying types with various attacks. From afar, he could see more ShadowNet reinforcements, coming from the direction of Mossdeep City. The trainer prepared to fight the reinforcements when the leading Flying types were shot down by a huge Water Pulse and Flamethrower. The trainer looked around to see where the attacks came from when a girl ran up to him. He recognized the girl as one of the two Mossdeep Gym Leaders, Liza.

"There's someone who wants to talk to you," said the Gym Leader.

The trainer ordered all 5 of his Pokémon to use Flamethrower against a group of ShadowNet grunts then returned his Pokémon and followed the Gym Leader as she led him away from the chaotic battle. He watched as a Lilycove citizen got his Machoke to throw a giant cinder block (on fire, thanks to gasoline) at a group of ShadowNet grunts.

"OH, WE'RE IN HORRIBLE PAIN!" came the ShadowNet grunts' scream.

"It seems that you started a riot against ShadowNet here in Lilycove," Liza said with a sigh.

The trainer simply shrugged. Before long, he found himself near the Lilycove Hotel where he saw Juan and Tate blasting oncoming grunts with Water Pulse and Flamethrower from Kingdra and Solrock. The trainer could also see Wallace sitting on the grass nearby with a blank look. Juan saw the trainer approach and turned to face him.

"Ah, so you are the one who caused this uprising," he said.

"Well… yes."

"Your assistance would be greatly valuable for the Hoenn Pokémon Association in taking down ShadowNet. How would-"

The trainer rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah… well, I'm not really interested."

"But… you said that this was your hometown. Look what ShadowNet did to it," Liza said from beside.

"Yes, that's true. But I don't really care about Lilycove City. The only memories I have of this place are bad ones. I only started the riot in this city so I could get out of conflict before I get completely surrounded."

Juan slightly narrowed his eyes. "A young talented trainer like yourself, whose battling capabilities could match the Pokédex Holders, should use your talents to assist others." '_This one looks and acts quite similarly to Ruby. As such, he would need a proper catalyst to get involved…_' "But if you do not want to be involved, so be it. Where do you intend to go?"

"Johto," the trainer replied. "I only came here looking for someone, anyways."

"Johto, you say?" Juan thought for a second. "My disciple's disciple, who is also my disciple, told me a few minutes ago that Johto was completely taken by ShadowNet." As expected, the trainer seemed to be alarmed. "According to him, many cities have been destroyed already."

The trainer cursed and sent out his Salamence. He hopped on and pointed north. "To Johto! Let's go!"

Juan watched as the trainer left on his Salamence in a hurry. Tate and Liza looked at the Sootopolis Gym Leader with a confused look.

"We could've used that trainer's help," said Liza.

"Why did you let him go?" Tate asked.

"That trainer will fight ShadowNet. But not in Hoenn," Juan replied. "It seems that he has something or someone very valuable to him that has been affected by ShadowNet. He will not be able to maintain his status of bystander for long." He turned to look at the two Mossdeep Gym Leaders. "Come. We shall go to New Mauville where the rest of the Hoenn Gym Leaders await. And when Wallace is ready to fight, we will begin our war with ShadowNet."

…

Meanwhile, Goldenrod City, Johto…

…

Whitney sat in a room in the Goldenrod Underground and looked at the other Gym Leaders gathered around. She felt ashamed… her city got taken in a blink of an eye, and it didn't take the enemy much effort to beat her either.

Morty sat beside with his Gastly and Misdreavus floating around him. He kept his eyes closed as he tried to sense where the other Gym Leaders were. Falkner was lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling with a blank look, wondering what he should do.

"Okay…" Morty started as he opened his eyes. "Bugsy is in Viridian City. Jasmine is in the lighthouse, Chuck is in Cliff Cave, and Clair is in the Dragon's Den."

"Great. So we're all alone," Falkner said as he sat up.

"I'm not entirely sure what the other Gym Leaders are doing," Morty said after a moment of thought. "I think they're fighting the enemy… except for Bugsy, anyways. So the first thing we should do is to find them and help if they are fighting. So we should head to Olivine City first," he suggested. "Whitney, why don't you try to get to Kanto and get help? We could use assistance from Professor Oak's Pokédex Holders."

"Great… so I have to meet Gold again…" the Goldenrod Gym Leader grumbled out.

"It's either that, or come with us to fight the enemy."

"I'll get going to Kanto…"

…

Celestic Town, Sinnoh…

…

The ShadowNet Sinnoh commander sat on a Staraptor and looked back at all the grunts following. "Alright, boys and girls! Here we are, Celestic Town! Now, let's destroy this place! Bombardment!"

The grunts were about to commence the attack when the leading Flying Pokémon were shot down by a Shadow Ball.

"Oh, no you don't!" someone yelled from below. The ShadowNet commander looked down and spotted Cynthia glaring at him from the ground with her Garchomp and Spritomb beside her. "We've been waiting for you!"

"The Sinnoh champion? What's she doing here?" the commander muttered. He shook his head and looked at the grunts. "What are you waiting for? Attack her!"

"But… we're not ready!" one of the grunts whined out. "I thought we were only going to destroy a helpless city today!"

"The champion's here already! It's all over! We're all going to die, man!" cried one grunt from far behind.

"You're all a bunch of spineless, yellow-bellied cowards, you know that?" the commander yelled. "We outnumber her 60 to 1, damn it! We can win!"

Few of the leading grunts nodded and dove straight for Cynthia. The Sinnoh champion crossed her arms and waited. Before long, the remaining grunts joined the attack and dove straight for her, attempting to hit her with several close-range aerial Hyper Beams and other attacks. But before the grunts could even prepare for the attacks, Cynthia struck first.

"Now!"

Cynthia's Garchomp used Draco Meteor while several more attacks were aimed at the ShadowNet assault groups from multiple directions.

"Pull back!" the commander yelled as meteorites started to fall from the sky, smashing into the assault group. And even more surprisingly, the grunts who weren't hit by the meteors were hit by other attacks, including Stone Edge and Psybeam, that weren't from Cynthia's Pokémon. "Where the f*ck did that come from?"

Cynthia smiled. "I did say that _we've_ been waiting for you. Lucian, Aaron, Bertha!"

"You are not the only ones who are capable of attacking when the enemy least expects it!" Aaron yelled as he jumped out of cover.

"The Elite Four are here too! We're all doomed!" one of the unscathed grunts yelled out. "… Well, three out of the four are here, anyways…"

"The sixty grunts you left in Canalave City have already been captured!" Cynthia yelled. "Byron, Roark, Gardenia, and a large group of volunteers made sure of that!"

"And your HQ in Hearthome City is no more!" came someone else's voice from behind. The ShadowNet grunts looked and noticed that Fantina, Crasher Wake, Candice, and Maylene have also gathered. "I will not have the headquarters of you villains in my city!"

The Snowpoint Gym Leader took a glance around before glaring at the ShadowNet commander. "Platinum's not here, so the Thin-Clothed _Duo_ is going to kick your ass!"

The ShadowNet commander looked at the unexpected opposition. "Four Gym Leaders… three Elite Four members… and the Sinnoh champion… Well, our original plan has been shot to hell…" He turned to look at the grunts. "We still outnumber them! Let's fight!"

A few grunts prepared to fight valiantly, while the remaining cowering grunts prepared to flee. Cynthia noticed the change in the enemy's morale and ordered a full attack…

* * *

><p><strong>Flying from Hoenn to Johto would take a day. The nameless trainer has 5 Pokémon that can Fly (according to the Pokédex and Cynthia in the DP arc, Garchomps can Fly… somehow. Cynthia's line "Don't worry, it's not that fast on the ground" implies that Garchomp can travel through the air). So, if one Pokémon gets tired, the nameless trainer can send out another and jump onto that thing and repeat until he gets to Johto.<strong>

**And as far as SE and SA goes, as long as the Pokémon itself is willing, it can get into another Pokéball.**

琦角之勢**: in terms of basic application of this state, say that there are two strongholds, A and B. If A is attacked, forces of B come to ambush the enemy from behind. If B is attacked, then the forces of A come to attack the enemy from behind. Therefore, if the enemy wants to take A and B, they'll have to attack both at the same time with superior numbers. Thus it requires a lot more time and effort to take A and B than normal. This would be the most basic defensive tactic.**

兵之情主速**: basically means "speed is of the essence in battle". So faster the better.**

**Current good guy KIA/MIA list: Winona.  
><strong>**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: None.**

**And…**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been (was supposed to take place before the Dex Holders find out about Johto, but after Platinum completes her journey around Kanto):<p>

Red, Green, and Blue stood in front of their juniors, looking at every one of them. The three Kanto Dex Holders looked at each other.

"So, who's going to pick the first member?" Red asked.

Blue smiled and extended a fist. Red and Green glanced at each other before they extended their fists.

"Rock…"

"Paper,"

"Scissors!"

Blue drew paper while the other two drew rocks. With a smile, she looked at Silver. "Of course, I pick Silver."

In the next round, Red won. He had to pick either Gold or Crystal, so he picked Gold. He might as well be in the same team with someone he had some experience training together. Feeling slightly dejected, Crystal joined Green's team.

"Ha, how do you like being a 'last-resort' member?" Gold asked with a grin. Crystal crossed her arms but didn't reply. "Just as I thought. I'm going to remember this moment forever!"

Since Green picked last for the Johto Dex Holders, he got to choose first for the Hoenn Dex Holders. Emerald had his hand in the air, as he wanted to be on the same team as Crystal. Green glanced at Crystal and with a slight shrug, chose Emerald.

Realizing that it was Red's turn, Sapphire jumped up and down while waving her arms in the air. "Ooh, pick me! Pick me!" she yelled out.

Red looked at her for a second before he looked at Ruby. Sapphire kicked the ex-Johto boy _far_ out of the champion's view and frantically waved her arms again. The Hoenn girl dropped to her knees in front of her role model and clasped her hands together. Red shrugged and allowed her to join.

With a hand on his rear end (which Sapphire had kicked pretty hard), Ruby went over to Blue's team. Blue grinned as she looked at Red's team. She was the first to point out the glaring flaw in the team…

"So, Red… don't you need someone… _calm_ in your team?"

"Someone with brains would help too," Silver muttered. "Gold isn't exactly the smartest Dex Holder."

The goggled boy gritted his teeth and glared at Silver with all his might. Even though he'd love to, he couldn't run up and beat the hell out of him, as he knew that Blue would kill him if he tried anything.

"In simple terms, Sapphire," Ruby started with a smug look. "Your team is the reckless one that charges without thinking or looking left and right. Very… stupid, if you will."

Sapphire clenched her hands into fists and glared at him. "I take serious offense to that, you jerk!"

"You have every right to."

"In that regard," Blue started. "Platinum, why don't you join Red's team?" she suggested, looking at the heiress.

"Yes. You are smarter than all three of them put together," Ruby commented.

Platinum blushed in embarrassment. "I am sure that that is not the case, senior," she said carefully.

"Oh, don't be so modest!" Blue said with a smile. "How many books did you say you read per day?"

"10, senior."

Ruby whistled. "10 books, huh? Well, you'll be in the same team as a girl who hadn't read 10 books in her entire life, and probably won't ever."

Sapphire's eye twitched. A vein bulged out from her forehead and she quickly snatched Gold's billiard cue. Swinging the fully extended indestructible billiard cue, she charged straight towards Ruby. "When I'm done with you, you won't be able to read either!"

Blue looked as Ruby activated his Running Shoes and ran for dear life. She looked at the remaining two Sinnoh Dex Holders and noticed how one of them kept his eyes glued on Platinum. "Dia, why don't you join my team?" '_I bet he's in love with Platinum!_'

Diamond snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. He walked towards Blue's team while Pearl had no choice but to go to Green's team…


	12. Once More Unto the Breach

**For those who believe that Winona is alive because of her appearance in SE, read the rambling on top of SE #026: Recovery.**

**And the counterpart of What Could Have Been moment, so a moment that's actually in the story, would be a What Actually Happened moment. Keep in mind that not all WCHB moments have a WAH moment, as several WCHB moments are simply sections that were cut off rather than replaced.**

**MISC: Truth about SA, part 1: the girl with the Magic Bounce Espeon and her brother who may or may not have appeared yet. Those two were supposed to be main characters (or at least very important side-characters) in my third (well, technically fourth, but I'm not going to get into that, ever) story based on the anime. The whole thing was cancelled immediately upon the start of Generation V, mainly because the IQ of the main character (Satoshi/Ash) seemed to have decreased by a lot more since Generations III/IV, and he was a moron to begin with. The moron died at least three times, constantly gets his ass kicked by rookies, yet still thinks that traveling around a new region with nothing but a freaking Pikachu (that once got its ass kicked by a **_**Magikarp**_**) is a good idea… And he's still ten… he's been 10 for 14 years, says the first episode of BW, despite the fact that the idiot celebrated an anniversary with that useless rat (that won't even evolve (shove a Thunderstone down its throat! It'll either evolve, or die. Either way, it's good)) around Movie 3. As a result, I have only seen two, maybe 3 (don't remember) episodes of BW and will not watch any more, ever.**

**Anyways, I digressed. There are a lot more reasons why the story was cancelled and will never be in the works, but in that story, the two created characters would be there to assist the idiot and his friends through some story-sh*t. Even though the role of the girl went from a main supporting character down to a test subject, she (and her brother) now appears in a world where the main character isn't a complete retard (also a world where time actually flows). For the brother, he won't be as violent as originally planned, and he's a hell of a lot less important. But once again, a lot less important roles but in a better world… a net gain, I'd say. I could continue rambling on and on, but SA must continue…**

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Once More Unto the Breach<p>

New Bark Town, Johto, 3 pm…

Sapphire stood on a tree branch high above the ground and watched for the enemy. She was Red team's scout, and Red was counting on her to gather as much information about the whereabouts of ShadowNet quickly and accurately. The Hoenn girl clenched her teeth as she thought about how ShadowNet was responsible for the death of her coach and how much damage they caused to her home region. But she couldn't express how upset she was, seeing how two of her seniors were in worse situations. Crystal was more devastated than angry, but Gold was irate. Even now, the goggled boy was getting angrier and angrier with each passing second of waiting.

Right below the tree, the rest of Red team were waiting and discussing. Gold's suggestion was an all-out attack. Platinum's suggestion was a quick strike to the enemy's main force. Red didn't know what to do, and decided to wait for Sapphire to finish the scouting. That way, with the new information, he would be able to decide what to do.

"Why don't you just let me go out there and beat the hell out of those bastards?" Gold asked through clenched teeth.

"I do believe that ShadowNet has gained control over this entire region, senior," Platinum started rather quietly. "If we were to engage them head on and if the ensuing battle stalls… the enemy will constantly receive reinforcements."

Red looked back and forth both his juniors, wondering whose suggestion he should take. Just then, Sapphire dropped from the tree above and landed quietly on the ground in front of him. Platinum withdrew a map of Johto (given by Blue before Red team left Pallet Town) and flipped to the page of New Bark Town. The rest of Red team looked at the map.

"We are here," Gold said as he pointed on the map. "And where are they?"

Sapphire examined the map for a second. "Okay, I saw a bunch of Flying types circling around here," she said, pointing to Prof. Elm's lab. "I counted 48 Pokémon circling there. And I also counted 5 teams of 4 people patrolling around these streets. There were also 20 people not in uniform scattered around, but I'm pretty sure that they're ShadowNet in disguise. They were constantly looking at the patrolling guys."

"Hmm… Anything else?" Red asked.

Sapphire pointed to a forest on the map not that far from Red team's current position. "I saw something moving in here. I don't think it's a wild Pokémon. I think some people are hiding here, but I don't think they're with ShadowNet. They were careful to avoid the patrols."

"If those people are citizens of New Bark Town, we should save them," Platinum said from beside. "I think one of us should examine that location."

"That's near my house…" the goggled boy muttered.

"It could be-" Platinum started, but Sapphire interrupted her with an alarmed look.

"There's someone coming…"

Red looked at the Hoenn girl and nodded. Sapphire understood and nodded back. She climbed onto a tree branch silently and waited while the rest of Red team hid behind trees. Gold took cover behind the tree that Sapphire was climbing while Red took Platinum behind another tree. The champion noticed that the heiress was trembling a little. He figured that it was nervousness before combat.

"Oh, I really need to go!" came a voice from nearby.

Sapphire watched as a ShadowNet grunt entered her view and approached her tree. The grunt looked around, and after making sure that no one was watching (or so he thought), prepared to relieve himself. Just as his hands reached down to his pants, Sapphire jumped off the tree and landed behind the grunt. As the grunt turned to see what happened, the Hoenn girl grabbed both of the grunt's arms and forcefully spun him so that his face was against the tree. In that moment, Gold jumped out of his cover and with his billiard cue, aimed at the grunt's neck.

"You move, you die," the goggled boy growled out.

While Gold and Sapphire threatened some information out of the grunt, Red peeked around his cover to see if anyone else was coming.

"Senior, what do you intend on doing?" Platinum asked quietly from beside.

"I'm thinking of hitting the force around the lab with full power," Red replied.

"Then we will get surrounded," Platinum said. "Perhaps you should…" The heiress whispered her suggestion to her senior and the Kanto Dex Holder nodded.

"Good idea. I'll try that." The Kanto champion put a hand on the heiress's bare shoulder reassuringly. "And don't be so nervous. They won't be able to hurt you."

Platinum looked surprised, but nodded. She had been trembling from nervousness, and it was obvious. But she wasn't nervous because of the upcoming battle with the enemy. She was nervous because she wanted to show her seniors how helpful she could be. She may have impressed some of her seniors during her battle against Green, but she wanted to show that she was capable of holding her own in battle against the enemy.

Soon, Gold slammed his billiard cue onto the captured grunt's head. He removed the grunt's equipment (Pokéballs, communication devices, etc) and Sapphire threw the unconscious body far away. Red and Platinum left the cover and approached the two.

"So what are we going to do?" Sapphire asked. "That guy was part of a patrol. If he's not back, the other ShadowNet guys are going to wonder where he is."

"Okay. This is what we're going to do," Red started. He turned to look at Gold. "Gold, get over to Professor Elm's lab and start attacking the Flying types circling around."

Gold nodded and clenched his hands into fists. "Got it. I'll get those bastards…"

Red looked at Sapphire. "When he's fighting, the ShadowNet patrols will try to attack him from behind. When that happens, go and join the battle. Hit the patrols from behind."

"Yes sir," the Hoenn girl said as she saluted.

Red looked at her for a second before looking at Platinum. "Change of plans. Platinum, go investigate the forest Sapphire pointed out," he said. "Be careful; they could be a part of ShadowNet waiting for an ambush." Before the heiress could object, Red looked at the others again. "When Sapphire joins the battle, those disguised guys will try to attack her from behind. Then I'll join and we'll blast them all together. And remember: once again, it is our job to finish what the Gym Leaders and the Pokémon Association _should've_ started. We are going to stop hiding and engage the enemy straight on. Don't even bother talking to them. We'll strike them so hard they won't know what hit them. Let's go!"

Platinum watched as Gold ran out of the forest with his Typhlosion and Ambipom out. Her idea was that she would help the goggled boy along with Sapphire when the time came, but her senior had pushed her out of the battle… With a disappointed look, she went to investigate the forest near Gold's house as she was ordered.

As she ran towards her destination, she could see Gold blasting ShadowNet Pokémon and grunts with rage powered Flamethrower. Any enemy that came too close got slapped senseless by Gold's Ambipom. As ShadowNet patrols tried to help their buddies and attack Gold, Sapphire joined the fray, attacking the enemy with rage powered Blaze Kick.

Platinum knew that her two seniors were waiting for the opportune moment to use the ultimate moves. Red had Frenzy Plant in his disposal while Gold and Sapphire had Blast Burn. The heiress wondered if her seniors would teach her how to get her Empoleon to use Hydro Cannon. She hoped that soon, she would be able to use the ultimate attack. Her Kanto seniors were probably going to teach her the ultimate move at the same time as Diamond and Pearl.

Before long, Platinum arrived at the small forest near the remains of Gold's house. When she got close, she could hear something moving slightly further ahead. Just as she entered the forest, a Weedle and a Kakuna burst out from hiding under leaves and attacked.

Platinum quickly jumped out of the way and sent out her Empoleon. She then pulled out her Pokédex and checked on the details of Weedle and Kakuna.

'_Okay… Weedle and Kakuna have stingers. Although Kakuna is still a cocoon, it can move a little and can extend its stinger in times of need_,' the heiress thought as she read from her Pokédex. She then looked at the area-details for the two Pokémon and looked confused. '_Wait…_' "Why are these two here? They are not native to this area…"

Then something odd happened. The Weedle and Kakuna saw her and the Pokédex and stopped trying to attack. The two Pokémon looked at Platinum with a confused look. The Empoleon simply stared at the two Bug type Pokémon while protecting its trainer.

'_They seem to recognize the Pokédex_,' Platinum thought. She gently extended her arms forward to show that she meant no harm. "I am not your enemy," she said carefully. "I am here to try to help people who are victims of ShadowNet's attacks."

"Victims? That's us then," came someone's voice from further into the forest.

The Weedle and Kakuna led Platinum deeper into the forest. The heiress could eventually see two people (and a Wobbuffet) being protected by a Drowzee, Chansey, Sandshrew, and a Krabby. The heiress noticed that the two people were women, and while one appeared as old as her mother, the other appeared… younger than Blue. At least the clothes suggested as such, anyways.

"How were you affected by ShadowNet?" Platinum asked politely.

"Oh, not much. They just destroyed our houses, that's all," the older-looking woman replied. "I used to live right outside this forest."

Platinum looked surprised. "That house? That is senior Gold's house…"

The older-looking woman looked slightly surprised. "You've met my son?"

"You are senior Gold's mother?" the heiress asked. She quickly gave a polite bow. "Yes, he is my senior and I have been placed in the same team as him. He is very worried about you."

"Where is he?" Gold's mother asked.

"He is currently fi-"

"Oh, it doesn't really matter. He'll be fine," Gold's mother said with a dismissive wave.

Platinum simply looked at her, surprised by having found the… family resemblance. The carefree nature that Gold had must've come from his mother.

"Hey, if you know Gold," the younger-looking woman started. "Then do you know a girl named Crys? She wears a white hat, has white socks, red shirt, and kicks Pokéballs."

"Senior Crystal? Yes I know her, but how do you know her?"

"I'm her mother!" the younger-looking woman said in an oddly cheery way.

"… You are senior Crystal's mother?" Platinum asked back in surprise. She stared at her for a few seconds, trying to find some similarities between the serious and professional Crystal and… her weird mother. The heiress couldn't find any resemblance, but remembered hearing from Gold about Crystal's 'crazy' mother. "… Senior Crystal is very worried about you. But I am glad that my seniors will not have to worry anymore."

"Say, where is Crys?"

"Senior Crystal is currently in Pallet Town of Kanto," the heiress replied politely. "If I may ask, how did you get here? I do believe that you live in Violet City."

"Oh, I was picking Apricorns from Route 31 when these guys started to attack Violet City," Crystal's mother started. "Crys talked about a boy named Gold from New Bark Town quite often so I decided to come here to see if I can get help. Of course, by the time I got here, New Bark Town had already been attacked. But I managed to find Gold's house from what I remember Crys telling me, and… here I am! For the past two days, Gold's mother and I have been talking while Gold's Pokémon protected us. We expected that someone would come for us, and here you are!"

Outside the forest, Gold and Sapphire watched as ShadowNet grunts started to flee. The combined power of Frenzy Plant and two Blast Burns had overwhelmed the grunts. Gold clenched his teeth and with his Typhlosion, started to chase them. Sapphire thought for a second before she joined her senior in chasing ShadowNet. Red started to run after his two juniors when his Pokégear started to ring.

"Red, this is Blue," came the Kanto girl's voice. "How are you doing?"

"We've beaten most of the enemies in New Bark Town. The remaining guys are running away, and we're chasing them," Red said as he resumed running.

"Don't!" Blue yelled. "Return to Pallet Town."

"Gold! Sapphire! Stop!" Red yelled. He stopped running and resumed focusing on the phone call. "Blue, why?"

"Listen. You just crushed the enemy in New Bark Town, but the entire region of Johto has been taken over. If you stay in New Bark Town or try to move on to Cherrygrove City, you'll have to fight constant waves of enemies. It's possible that you'll end up being surrounded. But if you return to Pallet Town, the enemy will eventually move back to New Bark Town and we'll be able to pull off a surprise attack on them again. And while ShadowNet is distracted with us constantly raiding them, the Johto Gym Leaders will be able to strike at them when they don't expect it."

"Hmm… Good point." Red turned to look at Gold and Sapphire, who were wondering why they were ordered to stop. "We're returning to Pallet."

"What? Why?!" Gold demanded.

"These guys are running away from us. We should chase them and deal with them before they get help!" Sapphire argued.

Red signaled them to be quiet and focused on the call again. "Where are you, anyways?"

"A forest near Goldenrod City," Blue replied. "ShadowNet kept the Magnet Trains in service to avoid suspicion, it seems. But there were lots of grunts in disguise around the station. I managed to get through with a disguise of my own. Red, I'll tell you the full details once I return, but I think I found something _big_. I'll see you when I get back."

Red hung up and turned to look at his juniors. "We're going back to Pallet Town. If we stay here or try to push forward, we'll have to fight endless waves of enemies. Remember, we don't even know how big ShadowNet really is."

"That's great, then! If we push forward, we'll fight wave after wave of enemies and we'll be able to root them out faster!" Gold argued.

"Yes! Why should we retreat when we can wipe out ShadowNet all at once?" Sapphire asked. She was about to argue some more when she heard something from afar. She looked alarmed and focused on her hearing. "… I think rookie's in battle… There must've been some ShadowNet grunts left behind…"

Red quickly headed back to where he left Platinum. Gold cursed and followed.

"Damn it!" both Dex Holders yelled.

"Blue's going to kill me!" Red yelled out.

"Super Serious Gal's going to kill me!" Gold yelled out at the same time.

Sapphire ran after her seniors with a confused look. "Why?"

"She warned me look after Platinum," Red replied.

"Super Serious Gal said that she would hunt me down if anything happened to Proto-Gal."

"Why?" Sapphire asked again.

"She's the youngest girl amongst the Dex Holder," Red replied.

"It's apparently our responsibility to make sure nothing happens to her," Gold added.

"… Did anyone say anything about me?" Sapphire asked.

"No," both of her seniors replied at once.

"… So rookie gets all the attention… great…" the Hoenn girl grumbled.

Before long, the 3 Dex Holders could see Platinum and her Empoleon, Lopunny, and Rapidash battling 4 ShadowNet grunts and their Pokémon. For some reason, the heiress kept her Empoleon behind her, standing in a protective stance. Red prepared to send out his own Pokémon to help when most of the ShadowNet grunts' Pokémon dropped to the ground. The Kanto champion stopped and watched as Platinum had her Rapidash hit the enemy Mightyena with a Flamethrower and then had Lopunny hit a Dizzy Punch through the smoke to conceal itself. He was quite surprised to see that the heiress could really take care of herself.

The ShadowNet grunts noticed the other 3 Dex Holders and tried to flee. Sapphire took the thick vine she keeps in her bag and using it as a whip, managed to catch one of the fleeing grunts. With the unconscious one in the forest, the Dex Holders now had two captured ShadowNet grunts, and were going to hand them over to Kanto's police.

"Ah, seniors!" Platinum said happily. "I am glad you came." She looked at Gold with a bright smile. "Senior Gold, I have great news."

"Huh?" the goggled boy muttered. "What could possibly be great?"

The heiress returned her Pokémon to their Pokéballs. Behind where Empoleon was, Gold could see what the Emperor Pokémon was protecting. With a surprised look, he ran closer.

Meanwhile, as Sapphire delivered the knockout punch to the captured grunt, she noticed that Red was talking to Platinum, ensuring that she was okay. The heiress ensured her senior that she was perfectly fine and proceeded to explain what happened. The Hoenn girl noticed the caring look on Red's expression and looked at her junior from a distance enviously.

"Lucky…" she muttered quietly.

She sent out her Tropius and put the unconscious grunt on it. She headed towards the forest where she threw the first unconscious grunt and found him before long. She delivered another punch to the face and dragged him onto her Tropius. Afterwards, she climbed on and waited.

"Right. We should head back to Pallet Town," Red muttered. He looked at his team members and frowned. "Okay. We need to get to Pallet by air, and…"

Gold sent out his Togekiss and Mantine (and Remoraids) and crossed his arms. "I guess I'll ride Mantaro, and mom can ride Togetaro."

Red turned to look at Sapphire. "Sapphire, do you think your Tropius can carry Crystal's mother too?"

The Hoenn girl forced a smile. "Of course. Tororo can handle it no problem."

"Then that leaves you, Platinum," Red said, looking at the heiress. "You don't have a Pokémon that can Fly. You can't ride Aero either. It can only carry with its claws, which is why Aero carries me whenever I need to Fly. Sapphire's Tropius doesn't have room for another person, and neither does Gold's Mantine or Togekiss."

Platinum seemed to have taken the wrong hint and looked rather depressed. "I… I understand, senior… I shall contact someone else and wait here until I am picked up. If all of the other seniors are busy, then I shall find a way to return to Pallet Town myself."

"What? Nonsense!" Red exclaimed. "The way I see it, the only way we can all return to Pallet Town at once is if I carry you and Aero carries me."

Platinum looked surprised. "A – Are you sure, senior?"

"Sure. Though this would be the first time I carry someone while in the air, but I don't think there will be any problems. Aero won't have any problems, and I'm sure I can carry you for the half hour flight. I've carried Blue longer than that before, and she's heavier than you." Red looked at his Pokégear and ensured that it was off. He then ran a brief check through all his pockets and the surface of his clothes to make sure that Blue didn't plant a bug on him. "… Don't tell her that I said that," he added nervously at the end. "She'll kill me."

Suddenly, his Pokégear started to ring. To his surprise, the caller was Blue. When he answered, the Kanto girl's angry voice came from the Pokégear.

"I heard that, you jerk!" she screamed at him. "Just get back to Pallet!"

Red groaned as he put his Pokégear away. "Damn. So she did put a bug on me…" He looked at his team members. "Alright. Let's get back to Pallet."

He sent out his Aerodactyl and had it grab his shoulders. He then lifted Platinum onto his arms. The heiress let out a short embarrassed shriek. She blushed in embarrassment and avoided eye contact with her senior. From afar, Sapphire narrowed her eyes and stared at her junior with envy.

…

Pallet Town, 4 pm…

…

Red team arrived at Professor Oak's lab and the Kanto champion told his team members to take a break while he went to talk to Professor Oak. He was going to simply tell the professor how the battles in New Bark Town went, but as he left the rest area of the lab (so basically a living room of the lab), Crystal stopped him and forced him to follow her re-con-dis system. Gold, who was with Red at the time, looked confused.

"What the hell is re-con-dis?" the goggled boy asked.

"Report, contact, and discuss," the Johto girl replied. "First, report what happened. Second, contact others who are on your side. And third, discuss future actions."

Gold smirked. "I think I'll stick with my own re-con-dis."

Crystal crossed her arms. "Really? Well, let's hear it."

"Relax, connive, and distract."

The Johto girl rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Gold. Red, you should follow _my_ re-con-dis system."

"Uh… okay," Red said.

Blue appeared from behind and stood behind Red with her hands on her hips. "Red! After you talk to Professor Oak, we need to talk," she said angrily.

Red swallowed nervously and nodded. "Yes, ma'am…" He turned to look at her, having thought of something to say to supposedly lessen the Kanto girl's anger. "Come on, you're a lot older than Platinum," he started. He failed to notice that Blue was now glaring at him. "And you're bigger than her. Just because you're heavier than Platinum and probably Sapphire, you shouldn't get angry." Again, he failed to notice that the Kanto girl's glare had turned deadlier. "I mean… you're probably heavier than Crys, and she's probably heavier than Platinum, but you don't see her getting all upset."

Crystal narrowed her eyes but simply sighed and shook her head. Red was doomed anyways. And seeing how Blue was trembling with rage at the moment, the Johto girl thought it was wise to grab Gold's hand and drag him away from the coming fire.

"Oh, Super Serious Gal, there's something I want to show you," Gold said, snapping his fingers.

Crystal sighed. "I'm guessing it's inappropriate, so I don't want to see."

"No, no. It's something our team found in New Bark Town. Well, Proto-Gal found it anyways."

As the two Johto Dex Holders entered the rest area, Platinum approached them.

"Ah, senior Crystal! I have a surprise for you."

Crystal now looked a little eager. "What?"

Platinum stepped aside and pointed at the couch. "The surprise is…"

Crystal's mother jumped out of hiding behind the couch. "Surprise!"

"M – Mom?!" Crystal exclaimed. She quickly ran to her mother, glad that she was okay. Then a thought occurred and her cheeks turned red from embarrassment. "What were you doing, hiding behind the couch?" Another thought occurred and she put a hand on her face. She turned to look at Platinum. "You… you found my mother, right?"

"Yes, senior."

Crystal groaned. The last thing she wanted was having her strange mother appear in front of her juniors. "Oh… how embarrassing…"

…

An hour later…

…

The Dex Holders gathered at the rest area along with Professor Oak, discussing future actions to take against ShadowNet. Sapphire still asked if she could head over to Hoenn, but her seniors and Professor Oak didn't allow it. Green stood up and paced around a little.

"Regardless of what we do, the Kanto Gym Leaders need to defend their cities," he started. "ShadowNet tends to attack cities with Gyms to attack the Gym Leaders first to remove any future resistance. However, I can't focus on defending Viridian City if I'm leading my own team to fight ShadowNet. Are there any suggestions?"

"You could just get volunteers from Viridian City to defend the city for you," Blue suggested as she steadily fanned herself with a foldable fan from her bag in an attempt to calm herself down. She was still very angry at Red and had given him a 40 minute lecture on how he should think before talking.

"We'll probably need someone highly skilled in battling," Green said after a moment of thought. "Random volunteers won't be enough."

"What about Lorelei?" Red asked. "Get the Elite Four to help us."

"Good idea. But does anyone have their contact information?" Crystal asked.

Green sighed. "Damn it…"

"Perhaps I could be of some assistance!" came someone's voice from behind.

Red became alerted; he recognized that voice… So did Silver, apparently. The Johto Dex Holder rose to his feet and looked where the voice came from. The Kanto champion jumped to his feet and reached for a Pokéball. He turned towards the voice in full combat stance. Gold and Sapphire also jumped to their feet and prepared for battle as well. Platinum simply appeared confused.

"You…" Red said with a glare.

Blue gasped in surprise. She stood beside Silver and looked at him. "Silver, isn't that…"

"F – Father…"

* * *

><p><strong>Current good guy KIAMIA list: Winona (as always).**

**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: none (perhaps I put this empty list up a little too early).**

**Below is the very first WCHB that features only the bad guys. It was added for the sole purpose of showing where the whole mind control exoskeleton thing was derived from. The moment was removed because… well, the reason's quite obvious if you know where the whole thing was derived from. Let's just say that ShadowNet wouldn't know proper containment protocols. Anyways, as a result, the WCHB moment contains a blatant copy off of the original source of the mind control. A blatant copy, meaning that the idea is CLEARLY not mine. For the guys who designed the actual thing, all I hope is that the company they work for eventually succeed in its ultimate goal of world domination.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

ShadowNet Johto HQ, Goldenrod City…

"How's the prisoner?" the Johto commander asked.

"She's doing fine, sir. She remembers what happened and seems to be quite traumatized."

"What about her victim?"

"It turns out that the girl shattered his jaw with that one strike, with enough force injure his neck. He's alive, but he seems to be paralyzed."

"… Bring him out here. We have orders to test our experiments against prisoners or useless minions."

"Yes sir."

Before long, two grunts appeared, carrying the injured grunt between them. The two healthy grunts placed the injured one on a table within the glass-test cage and backed away.

"Alright. We are going to test a prototype for a different kind of a mind controlling device. This one will find and attach to targets on its own."

"How does it do that?" a grunt asked.

"Let's just say that our mind controlling devices are living things," the commander replied. "Okay, commence the test!"

Three ShadowNet grunts entered the glass cage and dropped off a large mechanical box. The grunts then left the cage and sealed it tight from the outside so that only the injured grunt was with the box. The Johto commander pressed a button and the box opened.

The injured grunt tried to see what was happening. He couldn't move his body or head, but he could move his eyes. From the box, he could see some kind of a brown balloon like thing climb out. The balloon like thing dropped onto the floor and began to crawl towards him using several tiny tentacles.

The Johto commander watched with several other grunts as the balloon like thing jumped onto the injured grunt inside the glass cage. He suspected that the balloon like thing would expand and cover the grunt's face, thereby beginning the mind controlling process. He was wrong.

The balloon like thing stabbed the injured grunt in the chest near the heart and began to dig with its tentacles. Everyone watched in horror as the balloon like thing forced itself to enter the chest cavity.

The grunt started to thrash around despite his paralysis. It seemed that the balloon like thing was controlling his limbs now. As the grunt thrashed around, some kind of bubbles started to form on his neck and exposed skin while the skin itself started to change. The skin was starting to rot at a fast pace…

The grunt suddenly sat up and got off the table. He approached the glass and stared at the Johto commander with an expression of indescribable agony. He slammed the cage with his right hand before he lost all control over himself.

The commander watched in horror as the grunt's chest started to expand, as if the balloon like thing was expanding from inside. Then, with a sickening pop and a growl that sent shivers down everyone's spines, the grunt's neck _snapped_ as the balloon like thing severed the grunt's spine and forced the muscles on his neck and shoulder to shift to make room. The thing that used to be a ShadowNet grunt now stared at the Johto commander with its head hanging limp to the side. Without warning, the ex-grunt roared as three long tentacles sprouted from its left forearm.

The ShadowNet grunts watching from the outside appeared to be disturbed, with good reason too.

"I think I'm going to be sick!" one of the grunts yelled out.

"Yeah… me too… Let's get out of here!"

"Oh, the stench! It's horrible!"

The Johto commander looked at the grunts nearby. "… I think we created an abomination…"

"What should we do?"

"Kill it. Burn it. Make sure there's nothing left. The process has been recorded on video, so our bosses will know that they should purge this prototype. And we will never mention this again."

* * *

><p><strong>Yes. This WCHB moment was horrible. Being transformed by the alien horror-show freak while still alive is one of the worst fates a human being can suffer.<strong>

**Once again, another blatant copy and another attempt at a disclaimer. Disclaimer: the prototype mind controller (as I called it), is NOT mine.**

**If you know what the balloon like thing is and what the grunt turns into in the WCHB, then good for you. If you know **_**all**_** about it, then you'd know the horror of being infected while still alive.**

**Please review. Lots and lots of reviews are highly appreciated! More the better! Review then wait patiently for SE #027 or SA #013.**

**SA #013 will have a moment that contains Ruby and Sapphire that seems worthy of being modified for SE. So, it's quite possible (and probable) that SE #028 will be the SE version of SA #013.**


	13. The Storm

**It's been a while since SA got updated. Reason? Preoccupied with something + SA motivation drop + SA #013's progress problems + introduction of Special Randomness (SR) as mentioned in SE. SR is going a lot better than I expected, so check it out if you haven't done so already.**

**MISC: names. What do I mean? Simple. So far, I've been quite inconsistent with who addresses Crystal as Crys and who addresses her as Crystal. Same problem with Diamond. So, this MISC should clear things up. In the original lines, everyone says Crys. But for the sake of formality and consistency, I'm going to change that for SE, SA, and SR.**

**Dex Holders who do not use nicknames for Pokémon will address the 'target' Dex Holder by the full name unless the 'target' is in the same generation. Those who do nickname Pokémon and that are in the generation above the 'target' will address the 'target' Dex Holder by the short name. Those who are in the lower generation will address the 'target' by the full name. There are three exceptions; first being Gold, the second being Platinum, third is Yellow. Gold is always informal to everyone except his seniors, and Platinum and Yellow are always formal to everyone.**

**Confusing? Here are the examples: Red, Blue, and Silver will say "Crys". Green, Yellow, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Diamond, and Pearl will say "Crystal". Red, Blue, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, and Pearl will say "Dia". Green, Yellow, Silver, and Emerald will say "Diamond".**

**Since the first 10 Dex Holders never actually met the Sinnoh trio, I can't say for sure how the older generation Dex Holders address the newer ones. When all 13 do meet (whenever that's going to be. Volume 41? 42?) and the call names are determined, SE and SR (assuming they're still going) will implement that change.**

**For the same reasons, Gold won't have nicknames for Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum in SE and SR, since both take place after everyone met. In SA, the meeting has been forged, thus nicknames are created. Diamond is "Slow-Bro", Pearl is (either Hasty or Hasty Boy), and Platinum is "Proto-Gal".**

**For Ruby, I don't really like the name "Prissy Boy" or "Fashionable Lad" because the former doesn't sound like a nickname ("prissy" basically means someone who acts very proper. So "Prissy Boy" is basically "Proper Boy", which is… what?) and the latter is pretty damn long (and Gold doesn't seem like the type to call someone as "lad"). So, mix the two together to get "Fashion Boy".**

**For Sapphire, "Wildchild Girl" is **_**exactly**_** what Gold calls her in the original lines (**野生児 ギャル**, or **野**(wilderness/outskirts/etc) and **生**(live/life/etc), which creates **野生**("lived in the wilderness" or "from the wilderness", aka "wild"), **児 **(= **兒**= child), **ギャル**(either "gal" or "girl"). "Wildchild Gal" sounds odd, so "Wildchild Girl".**

**Gold will call Emerald as "Odd Boy" like the original lines (****ミョーチキリン ボーイ****)**** instead of "Unorthodox Kid", because the latter has the same problem as "Fashionable Lad".**

**Anyways… enough yakking.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 13: The Storm<p>

"What are you doing here?" Red demanded as he glared at Giovanni. Yellow rose to her feet and hid behind Red, afraid of a possible battle.

"Relax, _champion_," Giovanni said with a smirk. "I'm not here to fight you."

"Senior, who is that?" Platinum asked Red as she stood beside him.

"He's Giovanni," Yellow replied instead. "He's the former Gym Leader of Viridian City, the leader of Team Rocket, and-"

"He's my father," Silver said as he stood in front of Red, facing his senior.

"Say what?" Red muttered in shock.

"Giovanni is Silver's father," Blue said. "I could've sworn I told you that."

"What? When?"

"In the Hoenn Battle Frontier," Blue replied. "You were probably too preoccupied with the whole battle tournament to pay any attention to what I was saying. You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?"

Red rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh… sorry? But I really don't remember you telling me that."

Blue crossed her arms and turned away. But a thought occurred. '_Hmm… Maybe I actually didn't tell him…_'

Red signaled his team members to relax. "Well, if you're really Silver's father," he said to Giovanni. "Then… okay." He sat back down and looked as if nothing happened.

Platinum returned to her seat as well and noticed how easily forgiving her senior was. The other Dex Holders returned to their seats except Silver, who remained standing. Giovanni suddenly tossed him a Pokéball. The Johto Dex Holder caught it and noticed that it was the Pokéball of his Ursaring. After looking at it for a second, he put it away and withdrew a different Pokéball. He tossed it to Green. Now that he had his Ursaring back, he felt the need to return his senior's Rhyperior.

"So, what are you here for?" Green asked as he put his Rhyperior away.

"Like I was saying, I came to be of some assistance. I'm aware of this ShadowNet growing in Johto."

"What? How do you know that?" Red asked.

"You forget who you're talking to," Giovanni replied. "And let's just say that knowing a really powerful psychic has its uses."

"A powerful psychic?" Red muttered. "Who?"

\\_Surely you haven't forgotten about me?_\\

Red jumped in surprise and looked around. Yellow looked at him with a worried expression. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I just heard a voice in my head," the champion muttered.

The door behind Giovanni opened again and two people entered. Red recognized them as Lt. Surge and Sabrina.

"It's been a while," the Saffron Gym Leader said. \\_Red._\\

"So… what exactly are you two doing here?" Green asked.

"They are here to prove to you that they are willing to aid you in defending Kanto," Giovanni answered. "Now, I know that ShadowNet attacks in great numbers. And given your numbers, you won't be able to fight ShadowNet in Johto and defend Kanto at the same time."

"And you three will make that much of a difference?" Blue asked.

"We have lots of Team Rocket members willing to fight alongside you," Lt. Surge replied. "If this ShadowNet wants a war, we'll give them war."

Blue narrowed her eyes. "And why exactly should we trust you? It wasn't that long ago when you tried to take over Kanto or almost destroyed half of the Sevii Islands." The Kanto girl gritted her teeth as the unpleasant memories flooded her mind. "You had my parents kidnapped right in front of me before our reunion!"

"So, how do we know that you won't try to take over Kanto while we're at Johto?" Red asked.

"You have one guarantee," Giovanni replied. "My son Silver. Do you really think that I would betray my son, who I spent 11 years looking for?" He looked at Silver, who remained silent. "As long as Silver is on your side, I will not go against you."

Red, Green, and Blue looked at each other. The Kanto girl glanced at Silver and decided to trust Giovanni.

"Okay," she started. "If Silver trusts you, then so do I."

Red and Green nodded in agreement with Blue. Silver returned to his seat and looked at his father, wondering whether he really could trust him.

"Good." Giovanni turned away and headed for the door. "If you need support for your fight against ShadowNet, come find me in Viridian City."

Lt. Surge and Sabrina followed Giovanni out of Professor Oak's lab, leaving the Dex Holders to think about what happened.

"Silver, do you really think we can trust him?" Blue asked.

"Yes," Silver replied. "He spent a long time looking for me. He also protected me even though he knew who I was. I don't think he would have done that just so he could betray me now."

Blue crossed her arms and closed her eyes as she began to think. After a moment of thought, she opened her eyes and looked at Silver.

"If you think that we can really trust him, then… We might be able to handle ShadowNet better than we initially thought."

"What do you mean?" Red asked.

"Think about it. Our original plan was to weaken ShadowNet with constant raids to New Bark Town. But if we have Team Rocket on our side, then we can take New Bark Town and move on. Team Rocket will assist us in fighting ShadowNet and defending retaken cities."

"If we can trust Giovanni," Green added. "If he's untrustworthy and we go with your plan, we'll just be helping him take over Kanto and Johto."

Blue glanced at Silver before she looked at Red and Green. "Right. I'll see if I can spy on Giovanni in Viridian City, and see what he's really up to. If anything happens to me, then you'll know that Giovanni is up to something, and you can plan what to do. If he's really not up to anything, then nothing bad would happen." She looked at Green and smiled slightly. '_And if something does bad happen to me, you can always come and save me…_'

Green looked at her and raised an eyebrow, wondering why she smiled like that. Blue avoided eye contact and rose to her feet.

"I'll… get ready. Spying on the leader of Team Rocket without getting caught is not an easy task, you know."

"Sis, I'll go with you," Silver said as he rose to his feet.

Blue shook her head. "No. If two people go, it'll be easier to get caught. I'll go alone."

"But…" Silver tried to object, but Blue signaled him to be quiet.

"Silver, I can take care of myself. And relax; nothing's going to happen to me."

"Be careful, Blue," said Professor Oak. "We'll need the information you gather to plan our next move." He looked at all of the other Dex Holders. "This has been a long day so far. I want all of you to rest and prepare yourselves for the beginning of a long fight against ShadowNet."

…

Later that day, 7 pm…

…

The Dex Holders gathered around the living room in Green's house, except those on dinner duty, who were around the kitchen and the dinner table. The Viridian Gym Leader didn't like the idea of having every Dex Holder in his house, but somehow, Blue had managed to convince everyone to invade his house. It was also decided (by Blue) that every Dex Holder will sleep at their team leader's house. Blue's team, however, had to sleep in Professor Oak's lab, as the Kanto girl's house was too far away. Yellow was to sleep in the lab as well, as she wasn't in any team.

Currently, every Dex Holder except Blue was in Green's house, as the Kanto girl had left for Viridian an hour ago. Out of the remaining 12 Dex Holders, Crystal, Diamond, Platinum, Ruby, and Sapphire have been selected to be on dinner duty.

"Why am I on dinner duty?" Crystal grumbled as she carried a large tray covered with dishes. "Gold's supposed to doing this…" She set the tray on the dinner table and started to set up the dishes. "GOLD! GET IN HERE!" she yelled all of a sudden.

"Crys, you're not in the position to yell at me," came the goggled boy's voice from the living room. "Remember, because Proto-Gal didn't get all the Kanto Gym Badges yet, you have to do whatever I tell you."

"Stupid ShadowNet…" Crystal grumbled. "If only they attacked after Platinum finished traveling around Kanto…"

Half an hour later, dinner was complete and all the Dex Holders gathered around the dinner table. The table wasn't big enough for all 12 Dex Holders, so some had to use miniature portable tables and trays.

During dinner, Ruby watched Sapphire closely. He noticed several unusual things about her. She kept looking at the clock and looked very guilty whenever Red talked to her. It appeared as if Sapphire was planning on doing something she considered to be disloyal to Red at a certain time. Perhaps she was trying to… …

Another thing Ruby noticed was that Sapphire didn't talk to Platinum at all or even acknowledge her presence. She kept ignoring her to the point where the heiress no longer bothered to talk to her at all. The Hoenn girl was obviously upset at the heiress about something, and Ruby decided that he needed to find out what.

…

3 hours later, 10:30 pm…

…

Green was sitting on the couch in his living room, thinking about the upcoming fight against ShadowNet. He wasn't making much progress, as he wasn't used to having so many people in his house. He almost jumped in surprise when his Pokégear started to vibrate. He pulled it out and noticed that he got a message from Blue, telling him to meet her outside.

The Viridian Gym Leader soon left his house and could see Blue waiting. The Kanto girl had her hair tied into a long ponytail and had her Silph Scope on around her forehead. She was wearing a rather skintight black T-shirt, black shorts that were almost as long as her usual skirt, and a pair of black gloves and shoes. She would've been pretty hard to spot in the dark, if it wasn't for the fact that she left her legs bare.

"So you're back?" Green asked.

Blue turned to look at him and adjusted her Silph Scope so it felt comfortable on her forehead.

"Yep. But what do you think?" she asked as she slowly spun around, showing off her new attire. She struck a slight pose at the end and looked at Green expectantly.

The Gym Leader rolled his eyes and sighed. "I think you'll sneak into wherever you're going much better if you wore proper pants."

Blue crossed her arms. "But don't you think I look better right now?"

"What do you want, Blue?" Green asked after another sigh.

Blue sighed too. "You're no fun. Anyways, I found out where Giovanni went, but nothing else," she started. "There really wasn't much I could do in broad daylight."

"So what did you find?"

"It turns out Giovanni has a hidden base in Viridian City," Blue replied. "It's below your Gym."

"What?"

"Well, it used to be his Gym, so it makes sense. But the entrance isn't in your Gym. I think he sealed off the entrance when he abandoned it. But the entrance is close. So I'm going over there right now."

"So why did you want to see me? You would have called me if you just wanted to tell me what you found," Green said.

Blue sighed. "I know… I wanted to see you because… I just wanted to see you," she said honestly. "I mean… I am trying to infiltrate Team Rocket's base. I might not make it back, and I wanted to see you one last time."

"You'll be fine, Blue," Green said after a sigh. He shook his head and headed back into his house. "But do be careful. We all need you here," he said just before he opened the door.

"Thanks Green," Blue said rather quietly. "I'll see you in the morning then…"

Meanwhile, Platinum approached Ruby, seeing how he wasn't talking to anyone at the moment. The Hoenn Dex Holder was still lost in thought as he looked at Sapphire.

"Um… senior Ruby?" the heiress started nervously.

Ruby snapped out of his thoughts and looked at her. "Oh, hey. What is it?"

"I wanted to ask… do you know why senior Sapphire dislikes me?" Platinum asked rather sadly. "She was very nice to me before we left for New Bark Town, but after that mission, she seems to have developed an enmity towards me."

"I… don't know, actually," Ruby replied. "But I noticed it too. I'll try to find out why she doesn't like you as fast as I can."

"Please do," Platinum said. "I am afraid that I may have accidentally insulted her. I would like to apologize, but she is ignoring me… Please help me…"

"I will."

…

August 14th, 1:30 am, Red's house…

…

Sapphire opened her eyes and quietly sat up. She took a look around the room and spotted Gold snoring on the couch and Platinum sleeping quietly on the floor on the opposite side of the room. Satisfied that she was the only one awake, Sapphire quietly rose to her feet and headed towards the door. She put her shoes on while constantly looking back and forth between her two team members asleep in the living room. She didn't want anyone to see her leave… what she was doing was a sort of a betrayal, after all…

Sapphire quietly opened the door and took 7 steps out of Red's house before she stopped. She turned around and right beside the closing door, she could see Ruby leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Ruby? What are you doing here?" Sapphire asked.

"Knowing you, I'm surprised that you managed to stay this long," he said quietly as he slowly approached her. '_I waited out here for two hours!_' "I knew that you would attempt to go to Hoenn since earlier today. Well, yesterday, I guess."

"If you knew, then you know you should stay out of my way," Sapphire said as she turned away.

"Sapphire, I know you really want to go to Hoenn to avenge your coach. But you can't leave right now."

"Why?" the Hoenn girl demanded angrily as she turned to glare at the ex-Johto boy. "Why are you stopping me?"

"If you go right now, you'll suffer the same fate as your coach. Think about it, Sapphire. This ShadowNet has taken over the entire region of Hoenn and the Pokémon Association is hiding, waiting for a chance to strike back. If you go over there right now, you'll be all alone. Without a way to contact the Pokémon Association, you'll have no help whatsoever. You'll eventually be captured… or killed."

"I… I know that I'll be at a huge disadvantage," Sapphire started. "But… they killed Coach… If the same thing happened to Wallace, what would you do?"

"I'd probably do what you're doing," Ruby replied without much thought. "But I know that you would do what I'm doing."

Sapphire looked at Ruby in the eyes. "How… how would you know?"

"It's natural to stop someone from doing something very dangerous if you really care for them."

The Hoenn girl remained silent for a few seconds. She shook her head and turned away again. "I… I can take care of myself," she said, her voice shaking. "I need to avenge Coach."

"No one's saying that you shouldn't." Ruby slowly walked around her. He put a hand on her shoulder and looked at her in the eyes. "But you need to calm down. Listen, I know that you can't stand knowing Hoenn is in danger. But if you go over there right now, what would that accomplish? Stay here. We'll eliminate all of ShadowNet in Johto before we move on to Hoenn. But without you, we won't be able to clear Johto quickly. We all need you here; especially your team members."

Sapphire suddenly sighed. "No, they don't really need me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Red, Gold, rookie… they don't need me here. They're perfectly fine without me."

"No they're not. I don't know about Gold, but I know that Red and Platinum need you in their team. Red needs another competent battler and Platinum needs someone she can look up to; a role model, if you will," Ruby said calmly.

"Gold's good at fighting, and Red even trained with him before. And as for rookie, she looks up to Red more than me. Besides, Red and Gold seems more focused on taking care of rookie than anything else."

'_Oh, is that why she's been ignoring Platinum?_' Ruby carefully picked what he would say so that it would affect Sapphire the most. "Sapphire, you can't be jealous because Platinum seems to be closer to Red than you are. As her seniors, we have to take care of her. That's what Red's doing. He's making sure that she feels comfortable and not rejected. And listen. He's 7 years older than Platinum. She needs someone closer to her age that she can look up to. She has nothing but respect for what the other Dex Holders did, including your accomplishments. And think about how you've been treating her. She's afraid that she accidentally insulted you. She's really hurt, you know. We've all been with her for a few days now, so you should know that she's _extremely_ sensitive of what her seniors think of her. You are her senior. You can't be jealous of her."

The Hoenn girl sighed and closed her eyes as she began to think. '_He's right… how could I have treated her like that? Oh, I feel terrible…_' "You're right. I shouldn't be jealous at all. I'm going to apologize to her first thing in the morning. And hey, maybe rookie and I will be able to train together like Red and Gold."

"That's it. Just like that. I'm sure she'll be more than willing to train with you."

Sapphire took a deep breath. "Thanks Ruby. Thanks for stopping me from doing something reckless, and thanks for letting me see how childish I've been." She looked into the ex-Johto boy's eyes. "But… how long do you think I'll have to wait to avenge Coach?"

"It won't be too long. I promise," Ruby assured with a smile. "And when the time comes, we'll avenge your coach together. But until that time comes, I want you to promise me that you won't try to go off to Hoenn all by yourself."

"I promise," Sapphire said. She was being sincere, but Ruby decided that he needed additional guarantees.

"Good. But if you do try to go to Hoenn all by yourself, I'll have to follow you."

Sapphire froze. "What?"

"I can't have you doing something so reckless all by yourself. If you try to go to Hoenn, I'll have to go with you to make sure that nothing happens to you."

"But… our seniors will really need your help."

"I know. But you are more important to me than all of the other Dex Holders put together," Ruby said as he slowly turned away. He headed back towards the lab with his hands in his pockets. "Just remember that, Sapphire."

Sapphire couldn't help but smile as she watched Ruby walk away. "Thanks Ruby. I promise I won't go to Hoenn by myself."

The Hoenn girl was soon lost in thought. It appeared that the feelings Ruby had were mutual. Sapphire knew that if Ruby tried to go to Hoenn all by himself, she would be there to stop him and try to convince him. And if that failed, Sapphire knew that she would probably go with Ruby to ensure that nothing bad happened to him. She was relieved to know that Ruby really cared for her, as much as she cared for him.

With a bright smile, Sapphire headed back into her senior's house. She still had a lot to think about, such as how she had been jealous of Platinum and how childish that was. She promised to herself that starting in the morning (or in one minute, if the heiress woke up), she would take better care of her junior.

…

Meanwhile…

…

L: Did we get the prisoner's brother yet?

D: No, sir. We still don't know who it is we're after. We did find one _really_ strong trainer in Lilycove City. He avoided us for two days after we initially found him, but when we finally caught up to him, he destroyed several of our squads single handedly and caused an uprising in the city before he escaped. Some of the Hoenn Gym Leaders helped in his escape and vanished as well. We haven't a clue as to where they went.

L: … Well, that's nice. All you morons managed to do was give this really strong trainer a reason to be hostile to us when he otherwise would've remained neutral.

D: Uh… yes.

L: And our Sinnoh group got utterly destroyed. And those Dex Holders successfully raided New Bark Town and seems to have gotten whatever they wanted. So… all of our initial plans have gone very well, but all of the plans that followed have failed miserably. And now, we have the Johto and Hoenn Gym Leaders waiting to strike at our forces from behind, and the Dex Holders preparing to take on us headfirst. And Sinnoh is completely out of our reach now. If our enemies in Sinnoh try to help those in Kanto and Johto, we're doomed.

D: Yes sir. We're at a disadvantage.

L: We'll need some help. See if we can contact the executives from previous teams. Team Rocket Admins, Galactic Commanders, and the likes. They have some experience in fighting Gym Leaders and Dex Holders. Their assistance would be invaluable. As for Sinnoh… Get Project 05-032 activated as soon as possible. But perfect it first. If it backfires, we'll be screwed. If Project 05-032 works as it's supposed to, then Sinnoh, Johto, and the Sevii Islands will not be of any concern.

D: But what about the Dex Holders who are planning to strike us right now?

L: We'll strike them first. In the morning, we are going to send every squad we have in our Johto and main HQs and send them straight to Pallet Town of Kanto. It's time we launched a full scale assault.

* * *

><p><strong>Current good guy KIAMIA list: Winona.**

**The Dex Holder KIA/MIA list will be posted when someone is actually killed or goes missing.**

**By the way: "Dialogue/Quote", '**_**Thought**_**', **_**Flashback**_**, **_**"Dialogue/Quote in Flashback"**_**,**_** 'Hard to see but Thought in Flashback. The one difference between regular Thought and Flashback Thought is the italicized punctuation marks'**_**, \\**_**Telepathy. I originally wanted the use the less-than and greater-than symbols, but thanks to the HTML style coding, those characters don't appear**_**\\, / /OTHER METHODS OF COMMUNICATION, DECRYPTED MESSAGES/ /.**

**Note: this chapter's title would have been "Calm Before the Storm", if it wasn't for the obvious (in my view) title-scheme I've been following. The blatant (again, in my view) title-scheme hints are in SA #014 and by my estimates, SA #015, #020, and #028.**

**Also note: I boosted Sabrina's psychic powers. I mean… she's supposed to be some sort of prodigy to the psychic-power thing, and what does she do in Pokémon Special? See Mr. Mime's invisible barriers? That's it? Well, not anymore.**

**Next up:**

**Two massive forces clash! It's time to go to war against ShadowNet.**

**Now then… please review. I'm sure it won't take that long. Follow the 3Rs. Read, Review, Repeat. So review. **_**Now**_**.**


	14. SAI 1 The Armory

**Expecting SA #014? Well, that's… nowhere near completion. Currently, the document that has the progress of SA #014 has… the title, and… … that's it. Not a single word after the title, mainly because… SA's storyline has been going completely different than planned. So it requires a little (little?) extra planning for the chapter to get SA back on course. Fear not; the planning is nearly done. The writing itself hasn't started, but… … yeah. But once I do start, SA #014 will take at most 1 hour to finish (like most of the SE, SA, and SR chapters thus far).**

**Anyways… here's part 1 of 4 (if I planned properly) intermissions for SA (SA-I). The 4 intermission chapters put together forms a mini-story that takes place in the SA world. Completely story-irrelevant (as in, the intermission chapters have nothing to do with the planned SA conclusion), but is shown in SA instead of SR because this is technically an alternate to SA's main story.**

**As such, the intermission chapters take place far into the SA storyline, but without stuff happening to the world and characters. No one's dead or crippled. Example: in the first preview scene of SA in SE, Crystal is… well, more or less **_**dead**_**. But she's perfectly fine in these intermission scenes. But this doesn't mean that nothing bad will happen to the Dex Holders. The character-fates of SA and the intermission scenes are unrelated.**

**Partial Setting: September 14****th****. The only city still under ShadowNet control is Goldenrod City. Every Dex Holder is in Goldenrod City to wipe out the remnants of ShadowNet.**

* * *

><p>Intermission Part 1: The Armory<p>

The Johto ShadowNet commander watched from his office as the Dex Holders raided the HQ building. The ShadowNet grunts were fleeing without even putting up a resistance. 4 Dex Holders were waiting outside the building along with a bunch of Gym Leaders, capturing every fleeing grunt nearby. Realizing that there was no escape, the Johto commander headed straight towards the armory.

In the first floor, Gold, Sapphire, and Green were busy breaking open door by door, looking for the ShadowNet commander.

Sapphire thoroughly searched a room and found nothing except for a cowering grunt trying to hide in a locker. She quickly ran over to the grunt and yanked him out of the locker.

"Alright you, where's your boss?" she demanded.

"I – I don't know!" the grunt cried out.

Gold entered the room and seeing the grunt, withdrew his billiard cue. He pointed the cue at the grunt's throat. "You should _probably_ tell her what you know."

The grunt swallowed nervously. "U – Upstairs… near the armory…"

"Where's the armory?"

"Top floor."

"Why's the armory on the top floor?"

"Bad room and building planning," the grunt replied. "There's only one washroom in this entire building too."

Gold shrugged and slammed his cue on the grunt's head before heading out of the room. Sapphire followed her senior. Outside, she could see Platinum and Green waiting.

"A grunt said that the commander was upstairs near the armory," Sapphire said. "So let's go!"

As the Dex Holders climbed towards the top floor, the Johto commander ran back and forth between the armory and the main supply storage room (which was next to the armory), trying to fix a machine that would let him escape capture.

"Those damn lazy grunts!" the commander yelled. "They never finished fixing this damn inter-dimensional portal!" He looked back and forth between the portal and the blueprints. "Who would've thought that fixing an inter-dimensional portal would be so difficult?"

On the ground floor, Red, Blue, Silver, Crystal, and Ruby gathered while Yellow, Emerald, Diamond, and Pearl waited outside the ShadowNet HQ, helping the Johto Gym Leaders in maintaining a tight perimeter.

Blue looked at the gathered Dex Holders. "Okay… Crys and I will go up to the top floor and see if there's anything worth finding in the commander's office. The rest of you, stay here and try to capture as many of the ShadowNet members as possible."

Red and the others nodded, and Blue and Crystal headed to the stairs. Taking the elevators was risky as ShadowNet could easily shut the power and trap them inside.

10 minutes later, Green, Gold, Sapphire, and Platinum reached the top floor. The Viridian Gym Leader left the stairwell and looked around for the armory while his juniors tried to catch their breaths. Within a minute, the other 3 Dex Holders joined Green in looking around.

Within a few minutes, Blue and Crystal arrived at the top floor and joined the other Dex Holders in searching for the armory. Soon, Sapphire found something. She could see someone in a uniform very distinct from all the ShadowNet grunts quickly running down the halls.

"There! Over there!" Sapphire yelled. "The ShadowNet commander is running!" She looked back at Platinum. "Rookie, come to me!"

The heiress and her Empoleon quickly jogged towards the Hoenn girl. Behind the Emperor Pokémon, Green, Blue, Gold, and Crystal followed. Sapphire kicked a door open just as Green and his Scizor arrived right behind her.

The Dex Holders could see a man pushing several buttons on a giant circular machine. The ShadowNet commander saw the Dex Holders and hastily pressed more buttons.

"Stop!" Green ordered. The commander pressed a big red button on the machine.

The light in the room started to flicker as the giant machine powered up. A big ball of energy started to form in the center of the circular machine.

"So long, suckers!" the ShadowNet commander yelled before he jumped into the ball of energy.

Much to the Dex Holders' surprise, the commander vanished in a flash of light. The machine had clearly created a portal of some sort… The Dex Holders simply stared at the circular machine, not knowing what to do. Green cleared his throat.

"Alright then. Gold, Sapphire, you're with me," he started. He turned to look at Platinum. "Platinum, with Blue and Crystal, find out where this portal leads, and how to reverse it. We're going in after the commander."

"Green, I'm going with you," Blue said. "Crys and Platinum, you two go find the commander's office and see if you can find anything relevant to this portal."

"Wait, you're all going in there?" Crystal asked Gold and the others. "But you don't know where this thing leads."

"Relax, Crys," Gold said with a smile. "This is a risk worth taking. That commander guy went in, so he probably knows how to get out."

"Well… be careful," Crystal said as she looked at Gold.

The goggled boy winked at her before he stepped into the portal and vanished. Green put his hands in his pockets and followed. Sapphire took a deep breath and entered the portal. Blue looked at Crystal and Platinum.

"Remember, this portal could lead to somewhere that has no way out. You two need to find out where exactly this thing goes, and see if there's a way to reverse it. I'm counting on you two."

"Yes, senior. We shall try our absolute best," Platinum said with a worried expression. "Please be careful."

Blue took a nervous breath and with her eyes closed, she entered the portal. She instantly felt… cold… very cold… and nauseous. She felt as if a strong electric current was running through her body. Blue had been zapped by Red's Pikachu a few times in the past (most of which were accidents), and going through the portal felt very similar to being in the receiving end of a low-powered Thunderbolt. After what felt like an eternity, the coldness vanished and she felt a wave of heat as she exited the portal.

The Kanto girl was in freefall for a whole second before she hit the ground hard, face down. It turned out that the exit-portal was a few meters above the ground…

"Ungh…"

"Blue? You okay?" came Green's voice.

The Kanto girl forced her eyes to open and tried to push herself off the ground. Having failed, she looked over to the side where she could see Green standing tall, looking around.

"Ugh… Care to help me?" she asked after a pained gasp.

Green looked at her and after a second, extended a hand. Blue reached for his hand, but she couldn't reach. As a result, Green had to reach down and grab her hand. He quickly pulled her up and she managed to get up to her feet.

Blue tried to shake away the nausea and focus on the task at hand. She noticed that she was in a city of some sort.

"Thanks Green. Do you know where we are?" she asked.

"No," Green replied.

Gold and Sapphire also had no idea where they were. They simply looked at their seniors, hoping that the older Dex Holders knew what to do. After a few seconds of silence, Sapphire made a suggestion.

"Maybe we should look for that commander from the sky."

Green nodded. "Good idea." He sent out his Charizard and hopped on. The other three Dex Holders sent out their aerial transport Pokémon and the four Dex Holders soared up high. From her Wigglytuff, Blue examined the city below.

"You know, this place looks awfully like Goldenrod City…" she said.

Gold looked down at the city below. "Hey, you're right. There's the Game Corner over there."

"There's the Magnet Train station," Green said, pointing at a building. "And the Gym's over there."

"But… we were just in Goldenrod," Sapphire said. "And I don't remember seeing this many trees or houses." She looked at the city below and soon spotted something. "There he is!"

Green looked at where Sapphire pointed and spotted the ShadowNet commander running while occasionally glancing backwards. "Alright then. Blue, stay up here and follow him. Gold, chase him. Sapphire, go ahead of him."

On the ground, the ShadowNet commander started to slow down. As far as he could tell, no one was following him. He smiled at his successful escape from the Dex Holders. Now all he had to do was create a portal that led back to his dimension.

But to his surprise, when he turned a corner, he ran into a Dex Holder. He didn't know her name (and didn't care either), but she was the girl with the white hat, scarf, the short skirt, and boots. Before the girl could do anything, the commander roughly pushed her down to the ground and started to run away.

But before he took a few steps in that direction, he could see a Mantine flying straight towards him with the goggled Dex Holder 'riding' it. The ShadowNet commander immediately started to run in a different direction. But a Tropius landed on the ground a few meters in front of him, and another Dex Holder got off. Before long, the ShadowNet commander found himself surrounded by four Dex Holders and their Pokémon.

The commander reached into his pocket. He _could_ try to fight his way out. He _could_ beat a Dex Holder if he had 6 Pokémon and the Dex Holder only had one (that wasn't at full health). But at the moment, trying to fight through four Dex Holders at once would be… suicide. With a sigh, the commander dropped to his knees and raised his hands in the air.

Green saw the commander trying to surrender and looked at Sapphire. Upon meeting her gaze, the Viridian Gym Leader pointed at the commander. The Hoenn girl nodded and approached the commander. She pushed him down to the ground and placed her knee on his back to prevent him from doing anything. She then reached into her bag and pulled out a long vine (which she always carries around) and used it to tie the commander's wrists together.

Blue gently landed on the ground and approached the commander. Sapphire lifted him back up to his knees and held him so he wouldn't do anything.

"Okay, so where are we?" the Kanto girl asked. "You made a portal that led to a different dimension, and we followed you through that portal. So where are we?"

"I don't know," the commander replied truthfully. "I was in a hurry to get the portal to work and I didn't really set a specific destination."

"Then how do we go back to our dimension?" Green asked as he stood beside Blue.

"I don't know," the commander replied not-so-truthfully. Gold noticed that he was lying and poked him roughly in the back with his billiard cue. "Okay, okay… There _is_ a way to go back… But we need to build that portal again." Again, Gold noticed that the commander was lying and poked him harder. "Okay! I can recreate that portal…"

"Sapphire, search him," Blue ordered.

The Hoenn girl did as told and before long, found a small device in the commander's pocket. It looked like a pen of some sort with a button on the end.

"Press that button and throw in on the ground," the commander said.

Sapphire pressed the button and threw it far away, in case it was an explosive. But the pen-like thing did absolutely nothing. The ShadowNet commander appeared confused. Gold poked him again.

"That did nothing. Stop lying and start talking," the goggled boy ordered.

"I'm not lying. That is a portable inter-dimensional portal generator. As long as the actual machine in our dimension is working, this thing should create a small portal back to our dimension."

…

Meanwhile, Platinum and Crystal had shut off the inter-dimensional portal, as the machine was pretty loud and it was _really_ getting annoying. The two Dex Holders needed complete focus if they were to find out where the machine led and if there was a way to reverse it.

Currently, Emerald, Diamond, and Pearl were searching through the Johto commander's office to see if they can find any relevant information, while Crystal and Platinum were searching the armory for plans or blueprints for the portal.

…

Green crossed his arms and started to think. He looked at the ShadowNet commander. "Okay, if you are telling the truth, then we'll have to wait until that portal generator starts working. Until then, we need to find somewhere to stay."

Blue looked at Gold. "Gold, keep an eye on him," she said, pointing at the ShadowNet commander. "Sapphire, come with me. We're going to look for a place to stay."

The Kanto girl got back onto her Wigglytuff and waited for Sapphire to get on her Tropius. The two girls flew up high and headed towards the Pokémon Center. No one had any money, so trying to find the Goldenrod hotel was pointless. But as they neared the Pokémon Center, they saw something strange…

"Hey, what the… is that Platinum down there?" Blue muttered as she looked down at the ground below. She squinted to try to get a better look.

Sapphire looked down and instantly looked surprised. "What's rookie doing here? I thought she stayed behind…" Since the Hoenn girl had much better eye sight, she noticed something else. "I don't think that's rookie. She looks… different."

The two Dex Holders quickly descended. As they descended, something odd happened. The door to the Pokémon Center opened and someone came out and approached the Platinum lookalike. But that person was…

"Whoa… Hey, Sapphire, that girl looks like you!" Blue muttered. "Only with different colored clothes."

"What the hell?" the Hoenn girl muttered. "That… was actually what I was wearing during the Groudon and Kyogre incident…"

"Do you think this is just some girl who happened to wear the same clothes as you?"

"That's… not possible. Ruby _made_ those clothes for me…"

The two Dex Holders quickly descended and landed near the Platinum and Sapphire lookalikes. The two lookalikes looked at them, surprised at the sudden landing. They looked very surprised upon seeing Sapphire.

Sapphire hopped off of her Tropius and approached her lookalike while Blue approached the Platinum lookalike.

"Whoa… this is so weird…" the Sapphire lookalike muttered.

The voice was quite different compared to Sapphire's, Blue noticed. The lookalike's voice was also quite high pitched, but had softness and elegance like a songstress. Her voice was also rather gentle, kind of like an older sister's. It was possible and quite probable that she had a younger sibling. In contrast, Sapphire's voice was… completely devoid of elegance, and rather… rough.

Blue rubbed the back of her neck. "How should I explain this?" She pulled out her Pokégear and called Green. "Green, this is Blue. Come over to the Pokémon Center as soon as you can. Bring the commander. We found something… weird." She then looked at the two lookalikes. "I'm Blue from Pallet Town of Kanto, and this is Sapphire from Littleroot Town of Hoenn."

"Wait, Pallet Town of Kanto?" the Sapphire lookalike muttered. "A very close friend of mine is also from Pallet Town. Maybe you've heard of him."

"I _seriously_ doubt that," Sapphire said.

"Really? He almost won multiple Pokémon Leagues," the Platinum lookalike said. "He beat the Battle Frontier and collected every Gym Badge from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh."

Sapphire didn't look impressed in the slightest. "My senior actually _won_ the Pokémon League on his first try, a friend of mine conquered the Battle Frontier within 7 days, and my junior conquered the Sinnoh Gyms in less than 40 days while dealing with an evil team at the same time. That friend of yours is nothing compared to them." The Hoenn girl was about to add something when Blue stopped her.

"Sapphire, arguing with people from another dimension isn't going to help us in the slightest."

"Right…" Sapphire looked at her lookalike and rubbed the back of her neck. "Sorry… I got a little carried away…"

The door to the Pokémon Center opened and two people appeared. One of them had a vest that looked similar to Diamond's and had a Pikachu on his shoulder. The other… appeared like the Gym Leader of Pewter City.

"Hey, Haruka, who are you talking to?" asked the boy with the Pikachu.

Upon seeing Blue, the Brock lookalike instantly kneeled in front of her and grabbed her hands.

"Oh, beautiful lady, would you please tell me your name? And while you're at it, how about we go on a date?"

Blue tried to pull her hands back, but the Brock lookalike was holding on tight. The Kanto girl looked at Sapphire. The Hoenn girl understood and with her foot, forcefully pushed the Brock lookalike away.

"Hey," the boy with the Pikachu started, looking at Sapphire. "You look like Haruka…"

At that time, Green and Gold arrived, dragging the ShadowNet commander behind them.

"Hey, that's the guy who pushed me!" the Platinum lookalike yelled, pointing at the ShadowNet commander. But seeing him tied up, she looked rather confused. She looked at the two Dex Holders curiously. "Um… who are you two, and what's going on?"

Blue noticed that the Platinum lookalike's voice was quite different than Platinum's as well. The heiress's voice was high pitched, yet soft, quiet, and very feminine and elegant. The lookalike's didn't have as much elegance, and was rather loud in comparison.

"Alright, Blue," the Viridian Gym Leader started. "Why did you call me here?"

"Hey, Shigeru! What are you doing here?" asked the boy with the Pikachu.

Blue glanced at Green and then looked at the Sapphire and Platinum lookalikes. Green looked at them for a second before he looked at Blue. "Blue, we're at an alternate dimension. It's only inevitable that we run into this dimension's versions of Sapphire and Platinum."

The Kanto girl sighed. "Can't you show _some_ reaction?"

Gold looked at the Sapphire lookalike. He let out a low whistle as he looked at her from head to toe. "Is it just me, or is she a little… _bigger_ than Wildchild Girl?"

Sapphire simply stood with a blank expression, as she didn't understand what her senior meant. Blue sighed. Seeing how Crystal wasn't there, the Kanto girl smacked the goggled boy in the back of the head.

"Ow…" Gold and Blue muttered at the same time.

The Kanto girl rubbed her hand. The goggled boy's head was quite… hard, like a rock… Well, it made sense. Gold was an idiot at times. The Sapphire lookalike looked a little insulted, but seeing how the goggled boy got smacked on the back of the head, she let it slide.

"Shigeru, stop ignoring me!" yelled the boy with the Pikachu.

Green glanced at him for a second before he looked at Blue. "Perhaps you should get on with the explanations so there isn't any confusion."

"Right…"

Blue looked at the two lookalikes and the boy with the Pikachu and began explaining. During the explanation (which left out the introduction), the ShadowNet commander attempted to flee. Sapphire noticed the attempt and quickly put a stop to it with a well placed punch to the face.

"So… how do you get back to your dimension?" the Sapphire lookalike asked after Blue finished explaining.

"Well… once Crys and Platinum reactivate the portal generator, the portable device we have should create a portal back to our dimension," Blue replied.

"Now that that's out of the way, let's get going," Green said to Blue. He signaled Sapphire to carry the ShadowNet commander and tossed the portable portal generator to Gold.

"Hey, wait! You can't leave yet!" said the boy with the Pikachu. "Let's have a battle! I never battled anyone that came from a different dimension before."

"We don't have time," Green said rather coldly.

The Brock lookalike kneeled in front of Blue and grabbed her hands once more. "Oh, beautiful lady, please don't tell me you're leaving!"

Green glanced at the Brock lookalike and looked at Blue. The Kanto girl met his gaze and clenched her teeth. With a fake smile, she looked at the Brock lookalike.

"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" she asked rather nicely.

"My name is Takeshi. Could you please tell me your name?"

"Right… Takeshi," Blue started with a warm smile. But in a blink of an eye, her warm smile vanished and was replaced with a cold glare. "Don't touch me," she said through clenched teeth.

The Kanto girl pulled her hands back from Takeshi during the time he was stunned at the sudden change in her expression. She then walked away and Gold and Sapphire followed.

"Hey, come on!" said the Sapphire lookalike. "You said that Satoshi was nothing compared to your friends. Let's see a battle!"

"Yeah! Pikachu and I can take you on!" said the boy named Satoshi.

Sapphire turned around and was about to say something when she suddenly stopped… A large mechanical hand suddenly shot out of nowhere and grabbed the Pikachu on Satoshi's shoulder.

"Team Rocket!" the Platinum lookalike yelled.

Blue turned around at the mention of Team Rocket but soon shook away the shock. '_Well… I guess this dimension has its own Team Rocket…_'

Green glanced back and could see a large Meowth shaped hot air balloon floating above the boy named Satoshi.

"Hey! Give Pikachu back, Team Rocket!" Satoshi yelled.

"Green?" Sapphire started. "Should we help them?"

"This is not our problem," the Viridian Gym Leader replied.

"But it does give us a chance to show the guys in this dimension what we're capable of," Gold said. "I think one of us should help them."

Blue looked at her two juniors. "So you two want to help?" she asked. Her two juniors nodded. "In that case, have a game of rock-paper-scissors. Winner gets to take care of this problem."

Satoshi looked over at Gold and Sapphire, wondering why they weren't helping. He was surprised to see the two playing a game of rock-paper-scissors… Gold drew scissors while Sapphire drew rock.

"Ah, damn it!" the goggled boy yelled out.

Sapphire grinned and pumped her fist in the air. "Rock beats scissors!"

"Best two of three!" Gold yelled.

This time, the goggled boy drew paper and the Hoenn girl drew rock. Sapphire simply punched her senior's palm. "Rock beats paper!"

"Ow! Hey, that's cheating!"

Gold clenched his teeth and drew rock. Sapphire also drew rock (again). The Hoenn girl grinned and slammed her fist into her senior's. "Rock beats everything! Ha, I can do this all day!"

"… You win…" Gold grumbled out as he massaged his sore hand.

Sapphire sent out her Donphan and looked at the hot air balloon high in the air. She got her Donphan to use Rollout and jumped on top of it. Just like she did at Mt. Chimney several years ago, she used the Donphan's Rollout to throw herself high in the air, towards the hot air balloon.

The two Team Rocket members (and their Meowth) looked very surprised when Sapphire grabbed onto their hot air balloon. Before they could do anything, the Hoenn girl slugged one of them in the face and grabbed the taken Pikachu. She tossed it out of the balloon and jumped off after it.

"She's crazy!" the Sapphire lookalike yelled out.

Sapphire threw the Pokéball containing her Blaziken at the ground below.

"Blast Burn!" she ordered, pointing at the Meowth shaped balloon.

The Blaziken saw its target and once its trainer was out of the way, unleashed its ultimate move. Sapphire hit the ground and rolled to lessen the impact. She got to her feet and tossed the Pikachu to its owner. She looked up and saw the Blast Burn hit and utterly destroy the Meowth shaped balloon. The balloon exploded and sent the occupants flying into the air.

Gold looked as the three occupants of the balloon flew far, far away. "So… what happens to them?"

"They'll be back," the Platinum lookalike said.

"How do you know?" Blue asked.

"Because they've done so around 800 times already," Satoshi replied as he put his Pikachu back on his shoulder. "They try to steal Pikachu and sometimes other Pokémon once every now and then. We always end up battling and they always end up being blasted away like that."

The Dex Holders simply looked at each other. The idea of the same group of people making 800 attempts at stealing a Pikachu seemed… _very_ odd to them.

"Thanks for helping us," the Sapphire lookalike said with a bow. "We haven't properly introduced ourselves… My name is Haruka."

"I'm Hikari," said the Platinum lookalike.

Blue looked at Green, expecting him to introduce himself. But the Viridian Gym Leader simply turned away.

"Well… he's Green," the Kanto girl said with a sigh, pointing at the Viridian Gym Leader.

"And I'm Gold from New Bark Town," said Gold, resting his arms on his billiard cue across his shoulders.

"Your Blaziken is really strong," Haruka said to Sapphire. "Mine's strong too, but I don't think it's that strong…"

"You have a Blaziken too?" Sapphire asked. "Right… I guess you're supposed to be me in this dimension… Say, how many Gym Badges do you have?"

"I don't have any. I'm aiming to be the best Coordinator," Haruka replied.

"Coordinator?"

"You know, participating in Pokémon Contests," Hikari said from the side.

Sapphire groaned. "Never mind… You're like Ruby… Who's your dad?"

"My dad's the Gym Leader of Petalburg City," Haruka said rather proudly.

"… You _are_ the Ruby of this dimension…"

"Hey, how about we battle?" Satoshi asked from behind abruptly. "You must be really strong. I want to battle you right now!"

"I'll take this one," Gold said as he looked at Sapphire. "You got to deal with that Team Rocket group, so this guy's mine."

"Fine," Sapphire muttered.

"Great! Wait here then. I'm going to go and get my strongest Pokémon!" Satoshi yelled. He headed back into the Pokémon Center, and Gold began to stretch and prepare for battle.

But then, something started to make beeping sounds from Green's pocket. The Viridian Gym Leader reached in his pocket and withdrew the portable portal generator. He looked at the ShadowNet commander (who had been simply sitting on the ground, watching the whole conversation).

"What's this sound?"

"That is the sound it makes when the portal generator in our dimension restarts," the commander replied. "Meaning, if you press that button and throw it a few meters away, it would create a portal back to our dimension."

"Finally," Green said. He pushed the button on the portable portal generator and threw it roughly 10 meters away. Upon hitting the ground, the device emitted a single beep before it created a big portal directly above it. "Alright then. Let's go back home."

* * *

><p><strong>The ending has been rushed.<strong>

**Yes. The SA intermission story is a crossover with the anime. The SA intermission story is the anime characters' last shot at glory (well, from me, anyways), and it shows my ideas for crossovers. Don't like it? Don't worry, this is only 4 chapters long, has no story relevance, and won't be uploaded consecutively. Do like it? Well… it's planned to be short, **_**will**_** be short, and… you'll have to wait until the next intermission to find out what happens next. Sorry.**

**Note: the 4 people from the anime world will have their names in Japanese because they sound better, and to distinguish.**

**Complete setting: set 3 years after the end of the DP arc… I mean… Diamond&Pearl, Generation IV, Season 13, or whatever. Instead of the moron going off to a new region alone with nothing but a useless-ass Pikachu, he's gone back home, and now, went to Johto as a vacation along with Haruka and Hikari, who returned home after traveling in Hoenn. Takeshi goes too just for the hell of it. And though the time in the Pokémon Special world is September 14****th**** at this time, the anime world is… different, because time doesn't really flow there. And no, the Dex Holders will not be staying in the anime world. **

**Age settings: time doesn't flow, but the anime characters need proper ages for their interaction with Dex Holders.**

**Satoshi/Ash/the moron: 20  
><strong>**Haruka/May/Sapphire lookalike: 17  
><strong>**Hikari/Dawn/Platinum lookalike: 15**

**Age relations in SA-I, Gold and Crystal as basis:**

**Red, Green, Blue: +4  
><strong>**Satoshi/the moron: +3  
><strong>**Silver, Yellow: +1  
><strong>**Haruka/Sapphire lookalike: 0  
><strong>**Ruby, Sapphire: -1  
><strong>**Emerald, Hikari/Platinum lookalike: -2  
><strong>**Platinum: -3  
><strong>**Diamond, Pearl: -4**

**Next up in the SA Intermission… FIGHT! A series of friendly to not-so-friendly battles take place between the Dex Holders and the anime characters. Who's going to win? … Well, that's obvious…**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Green sighed and looked at Satoshi. "You are an idiot."

"What?"

"That Team Rocket attacked you 800 times already, and yet you've been caught off guard. Meaning, you've been caught off guard by the same type of ambush from the same people 800 times. And the very first thing you said when they tried to take your Pikachu was "give Pikachu back". What exactly makes you think they'll give it back when they didn't for the past 800 times?"


	15. Tip of the Spear

**In case someone asks me about what happened to Intermission Part 2… I'll explain again. Intermission Part 2 will NOT be uploaded directly after Part 1. Don't ask why I planned it that way (I'm not sure why myself…). Meaning, after one intermission scene, it's back to the SA storyline. After a while, Intermission Part 2 will be uploaded, and a while after that, Part 3 and so on until all the intermission scenes are uploaded. Once again, if you DO like the intermission scenes, you'll just have to wait **_**really**_** patiently until the next intermission scene is uploaded. If you DON'T like it, then… don't worry, it won't come up again for a long while. Also the intermission scenes have absolutely no story relevance.**

**MISC: Truth about SA, part 2: the plans. I mentioned SA being in the works (untitled at the time) in SE #001: Surprise Gift. So the initial plans are old. But how old? A vast majority of the story structure and plans were from **_**before**_** Platinum's name was revealed. More specifically, it was during Platinum's battle with Fantina. At that time, the official Japanese website had magazine releases that covered parts of the DP arc (currently 3/3 magazines (soon to be 2/2) cover BW), and some of those were covering the Platinum-Fantina battle (I think… it's been a long while…). The others were covering the (very short) Platinum-Byron battle, after which Platinum learns the truth about Diamond and Pearl and… yeah. So the SA plans are… quite old. I'm making additions as SA progresses, though. Keep in mind that **_**every**_** reference to Generation V things, Platinum and HGSS arcs are add-ons.**

**The early versions of SA (single chapters) will be posted in SR when the time comes.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 14: Tip of the Spear<p>

August 14th, 2:30 am…

Blue quietly approached a strange building in Viridian City. It was the building that Giovanni had entered the previous day. The Kanto girl knew that entering the building from the front door was… stupid. So she circled around, looking for an alternate entrance. Soon, she found a possible entrance from behind the building. On the 5th floor, she could see a slightly open window that led to a room whose lights were off. Blue looked around that window and spotted a drainage pipe several windows away.

Blue sighed. "Why didn't I get Sapphire to do this?"

She approached the drainage pipe and gently shook it. It didn't budge and thus didn't make a sound. She grabbed onto it and began to climb up. 7 minutes later, she got to the 5th floor and managed to grab onto the windowsill right beside the drainage pipe. She glanced down and could see the ground _far_ below. She shook away the regret and fear and continued to slowly inch her way towards the open window.

Blue carefully raised herself so that she could look through the window she was holding onto. She could see two people sitting by a desk, talking to each other. The Kanto girl placed a small sound transmitter on the window so that she could hear the conversation inside.

"… you think about the boss's decision?"

"I think he made a good decision. I mean… those kids are tough. If we end up working with them, who knows what we can do!"

Blue retrieved the sound transmitter and continued to her target window. Her arms were really aching… so she had to get there quickly.

After 5 more minutes, Blue finally arrived at her target window. The lights were off inside, so she carefully lowered her Silph Scope and looked inside. To her surprise, she could see Sabrina sitting on a chair, facing the wall opposite to the window. Her ominous presence sent shivers down Blue's spine.

'_Sabrina? What's she doing here?_'

\ \_Waiting for you to come._\ \

The Saffron Gym Leader rose to her feet and faced the window. With a flick of a finger, the window opened as wide as possible. She stood in front and looked at Blue with her arms crossed.

\ \_I've been waiting for you._\ \

Blue simply looked at Sabrina. "… Well, isn't this embarrassing… Why are you here? If you knew I was coming, then wouldn't you have posted a bunch of Rocket grunts here?"

"The boss is being honest when he said that he'll be helping you," Sabrina started. "But I knew that you would be suspicious. So, to prove to you that we're not going to betray you, I'm letting you infiltrate our base. We have nothing to hide."

"How do I know that this isn't a trick?" Blue asked.

Sabrina took a step backwards and extended a hand as if she was choking something invisible. Blue could feel some kind of invisible hand choking her… just like Deoxys did to her a few years ago. The Kanto girl was forced to let go of the windowsill and reached for her throat. The Saffron Gym Leader kept her in the air with the same psychic force she was using to choke her.

"If we were actually planning to betray you later on, I could just let you drop to your death here and make it look like an accident," Sabrina said with a rather scary expression. With a smirk, she released Blue and the Kanto Dex Holder only had a fraction of a second to grab onto the windowsill again. Sabrina turned away and sent out her Alakazam. "The boss doesn't know I'm here. I didn't tell anyone about you coming. Don't get caught."

With Alakazam's Teleport, the Saffron Gym Leader vanished and Blue was able to climb through the window. Once she was inside, she felt around her throat as she thought about what Sabrina told her.

'_She could've just told me to trust her instead of going all psychic on me…_' Blue thought miserably.

She slowly got back up to her feet and silently moved towards the door. She switched the settings on her Silph Scope to thermal to see if there was anyone on the opposite side of the door. Relieved to know that there was no one there, she opened the door very slightly and stuck a small optic cable in the opening. She didn't see anyone at all so she opened the door wider and snuck out.

As Blue carefully and silently crept past shut doors and empty hallways, she heard a distinctive sound of a computer turning on. She quickly pressed herself against the dark wall and with her Silph Scope, scanned the area. She didn't find anyone though…

'_How odd…_'

Blue switched the settings on her Silph Scope to detect electronics and scanned the area. Soon, she could see the shape of a computer from a room to her side. She switched the settings on her Silph Scope back to thermal and checked the door. She opened the door slightly and stuck the optic cable in the gap, but she still couldn't see anyone.

Blue shook away the odd feeling and opened the door. The room was dark, with the only source of light being the computer's monitor. The Kanto girl carefully approached the computer, wondering why and how the thing turned on when absolutely no one was nearby. With her Silph Scope, she scanned around again. But still, she found no one.

She raised the Silph Scope and looked at the monitor. She could see that the screen was rather distorted… Suddenly, the screen flickered and went black. Random letters started appearing on screen and moved up. The screen flickered again and all the random letters vanished. A new coherent message started form…

/ /"CALLING ALL ROCKET MEMBERS. WE ARE GIVING YOU A CHANCE OF JOIN US AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD. WE ARE GOING TO ATTACK PALLET TOWN IN FULL FORCE IN THE MORNING OF AUGUST 14. IF YOU ARE GOING TO HELP US, DO SO BY ATTACKING THE DEX HOLDERS FROM BEHIND."/ /

Blue froze. So ShadowNet was coming to Pallet Town in a few hours… But more surprisingly, how and why did the message appear on screen in the first place? The text on the screen faded away and a new message started to appear.

/ / FRAGMENT 4/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED PRE-CATACLYSM]

J: He's having trouble stabilizing his project.

S: I know. I've given him all the help I can manage without him knowing. I expect he'll activate his precious little project within two days. Three at most.

J: What then?

S: Then we copy that project and modify it. His project has very little use. Ours will have a much more important task.

/ / FRAGMENT ENDS

Blue shook her head. She felt quite dizzy from what she just learned. It seemed that ShadowNet wasn't the only enemy threatening the world… So… ShadowNet had a big plan that was going to be activated in two or three days, they were going to invade Pallet Town in a few hours, _and_ they were trying to recruit Team Rocket members? And who (or what) exactly was helping her? Why did the messages appear on the screen?

/ /DEX HOLDER, YOU HAVE INSUFFICIENT TIME FOR YOU TO REMAIN IDLE. YOU ARE HERE TO COMPLETE A TASK, AND AFTERWARDS, YOU WILL RETURN TO PALLET TOWN IN ORDER TO FEND OFF INVADING ENEMY FORCES./ /

The computer somehow shutdown afterwards, leaving Blue alone with her thoughts. She shook her head and left the room a few seconds later. Whoever or whatever was helping her was right. She didn't have enough time to stand still. She still had to spy on Team Rocket and see if they were indeed trustworthy, she then had to find out if some Rocket members were going to help ShadowNet, _then_ she had to return to Pallet Town and warn her friends of the incoming ShadowNet attack.

Within a few minutes, the Kanto girl could see Giovanni sitting at a table downstairs with several important-looking Rocket members nearby. Blue carefully placed a small audio recorder near her floor's railing so that she could record everything Giovanni and the Rocket members would discuss. She then hid in the shadows and with her Silph Scope, zoomed in on the papers on Giovanni's desk. She didn't find anything that suggested that Team Rocket would try to take over the world. She only found some messages from various Rocket members and their results from scouting ShadowNet in Johto.

"Boss, we received a message from ShadowNet, asking us to join them in their cause," one of the Rocket members said. "What should we do?"

"Pretend to agree with them and attack them instead when the opportunity arises," Giovanni said after a moment of thought.

"Sir, ShadowNet's forces are massive. Wouldn't it be easier and better if we help them?"

"Yes, ShadowNet is massive. But their members and combat skills are terrible. That's why they're asking us to help them," Giovanni said. "If they were as skilled as they claim to be, then they wouldn't need any help."

Blue mentally sighed in relief. She had worried about dealing with both ShadowNet _and_ Team Rocket at the same time, but if Giovanni was really on the good side, then dealing with ShadowNet would be significantly easier. But she did wonder how many of the Rocket members were on the same page as their boss… Giovanni seems to have thought of the same problem.

"Send a survey to every Rocket member when everyone wakes up," he said after a short moment of thought. "Ask a simple question. "Would you join ShadowNet?" And have everyone who said 'no' come see me in the meeting room."

Blue carefully retrieved the audio recorder and after shutting it off, put it in her bag. She then carefully and began to look around for a safe exit. Her task was complete; she found out that Giovanni really was on the good side. But before she even took a single step, something happened…

An alarm was triggered somehow, despite the fact that Blue didn't do anything. There weren't any cameras near her location either…

Giovanni looked up from his desk and ordered various Rocket members to look around. A Rocket grunt suddenly approached him.

"Sir, our security system did not detect any anomalies but an alert has been triggered."

"Search the building," Giovanni ordered. "If there is an intruder, make sure he doesn't escape."

Giovanni suddenly walked away somewhere and a bunch of Rocket grunts started to appear from various rooms. Blue carefully headed towards the room from which she entered.

"There! Over there!" came a voice from behind.

Blue jumped in surprise and glanced backwards. A Rocket grunt was looking at her with a flashlight pointed in her direction. The Kanto girl quickly started to run. She turned a corner and quickly glanced at the walls in the hallway, looking for windows or open doors. Several doors opened and more Rocket grunts appeared.

Blue turned around and started to run again. A lone Rocket grunt stood in front of her and tried to catch her. The Kanto girl quickly tried to run past him but he simply ran into her, knocking her off her feet. She rolled to her side to avoid the grunt's attempt at catching her and jumped to her feet. She hopped over the grunt and resumed running. She turned a corner and ran into someone, who simply gripped her throat hard. It took Blue a second to realize that she ran into Giovanni.

Giovanni started to choke her harder for a split second until he noticed something. He loosened his grip a little and looked at her face carefully. Recognizing Blue, he let her go. The Kanto girl dropped to her knees and started to cough. Several Rocket grunts forced her back to her feet and grabbed her arms from either side.

"You…" Giovanni started. "You're the one who was kidnapped with my son, aren't you?" Blue nodded. "And you're the one who my son looks up to like a sister." Blue nodded again. "What exactly are you doing here?"

The Kanto girl coughed again. "Well, to be honest…"

Giovanni signaled the Rocket grunts to release Blue. "You didn't believe in my word, did you? You thought I had some ulterior motive in helping you."

Blue rubbed her throat. "Um… yes."

"We have nothing to hide. I'll let you go."

"… Really?" Blue asked, rather surprised. "Um… thank you."

"Now you have to return to Pallet to get some rest before ShadowNet starts attacking."

Blue sighed. "Yes… my friends and I will have a tough fight to go through in the morning…"

"We will help you," Giovanni said. "We will engage the enemy first, as we will surely detect their arrival first. Perhaps that will prove to you that we have no ulterior motive."

"Thank you… And I'm sorry for doubting you."

"Just look after my son," Giovanni said. "He trusts in you a lot more than he does in me." He then walked past Blue, back towards the table he had been sitting on before the alarm was triggered. "Come back to this building when I tell you to," he said, abruptly stopping after a few steps. "I have something that I believe will help you and only you."

The Kanto girl looked confused. "Really? What is it? And why can't you give it to me now?"

"It's still in development. You'll find out later."

Giovanni then walked away, and the Rocket grunts followed. Blue watched them from behind before she made her way towards the exit; the same room from which she entered. Sure, Giovanni knows that she was in the building, but it was still really embarrassing for her to simply walk out of the front door.

…

Several hours later, 7:30 am, Pallet Town…

…

Platinum woke up from her sleep and slowly opened her eyes. She carefully sat up and stretched.

"Hey, rookie, you're awake, huh?" came a voice from behind.

Platinum looked behind and could see Sapphire doing one-handed push-ups while looking at her with a warm smile. "Yes senior. How was your sleep?" '_Wait… why is she smiling?_'

"Very good. Thanks for asking." The Hoenn girl rose to her feet and stretched her arms. "Hey rookie, want to go on a morning jog with me?"

"Of course, senior, I would be glad to join you. But please give me a few minutes to get ready."

Platinum rose to her feet and noticed that Gold was still snoring loudly on the couch. So she quietly folded her blankets and tiptoed her way to the bathroom to freshen up. After washing her face and brushing her teeth, the heiress noticed that Sapphire wasn't in the house and headed outside.

Directly outside Red's house, Platinum could see Sapphire sitting on a tree branch high above the ground, facing south.

"Senior Sapphire?" she called rather quietly, afraid that she might wake up Red and Gold. Sapphire didn't respond, as she was lost in thought. "Senior Sapphire?" the heiress called again, a bit louder.

Sapphire snapped out of her thoughts about Hoenn and looked down. Upon seeing her junior, she jumped off of the tree branch and landed directly in front of her.

"So rookie, are you ready?"

"Yes senior."

The two girls proceeded to take their morning jog. It was a simple route: a rough circle around Red's house, Green's house, and Professor Oak's lab. That way, if any of their seniors needed them, they would be able to respond to the call very quickly. A minute into the jog, Platinum noticed that Sapphire started to sigh.

"… Hey, rookie, I… want to say something…" Sapphire said with another sigh.

"What is it, senior?"

"… I'm sorry…"

Platinum looked surprised. "I beg your pardon?"

"I know I've been ignoring you lately, and I'm sorry." Sapphire sighed again. "To be honest, I… um… I've been… jealous of how Red takes special care of you." She glanced over at her junior and noticed that the heiress looked very shocked. "But I realized that I shouldn't be jealous at all. I promise that I'll be nice to you again, so… do you forgive me?"

Platinum suddenly looked extremely happy. "Senior, there is nothing to forgive. I apologize for unintentionally making senior Red pay more attention to me than you. But… if you were to do me the honor of training me, then perhaps senior Red will not worry about me as much."

"Hey, yeah! You know, I was just thinking that too. We're on the same team, and since Red and Gold have already trained together, the two of us should train together, instead of me just training you. So how about it?"

Platinum smiled. "I would be honored."

Meanwhile, in Professor Oak's lab, Blue woke up and rubbed her eyes. She checked the clock and noticed that it was 7:40. She then checked the Pokégear and noticed that she had received a message from Giovanni. Did she even give him her Pokégear number?

The Kanto girl read the message. It seemed that the message had been sent an hour ago, and that ShadowNet was expected to arrive in Pallet Town at 9 am.

"Oh, that can't be good…" Blue rose to her feet and looked around. It seemed that Silver was the only one who was awake.

"Sis, what happened yesterday?" Silver asked. He looked at her throat and appeared rather worried. "Your neck's bruised. What happened?"

"Your father is really on our side. That's what I found out yesterday. And as for the bruise…" Blue felt around her throat and winced. "Don't worry about it. It's not important, and we don't have time to worry about this kind of thing." Before Silver could ask what she meant, Blue turned to look at the other 3 sleeping Dex Holders and yelled. "EVERYONE WAKE UP!"

Yellow, Ruby, and Diamond instantly jumped awake and sat up. They looked at Blue with a confused expression.

"Sis, what's wrong?" Silver asked.

Blue ignored him for the time being. "Yellow, Dia, you're on food duty. Get breakfast ready for all the Dex Holders within 20 minutes. Ruby, go to Red's house and Green's house and get everyone to come here. It's an emergency, so go!"

…

Meanwhile, New Mauville, Hoenn…

…

"It is time," Juan said as he looked at the gathered Hoenn Gym Leaders. "ShadowNet in this region are starting to move out. I hear that only half of them are staying in this region, so it is the perfect time to strike."

"Well, what should we do then?" Roxanne asked.

"Our top priority is to retake Slateport, Lilycove, Fortree, and Fallarbor Town," Juan replied. "Doing so will prevent ShadowNet reinforcements from arriving and the remaining ShadowNet from escaping." He thought for a few seconds before continuing. "Roxanne and Brawly, go and retake Fallarbor Town. Gather as many volunteers to aid you afterwards. Flannery and Wattson, take Fortree City. Tate and Liza, go to Slateport City. Wallace and I shall take Lilycove City." Juan then looked at Norman and Professor Birch. "Norman, you will defend this location and with Professor Birch, monitor all communications."

The Gym Leaders agreed to the plan (or in Norman's case, simply sat silently) and those who were going to partake in the attack rose to their feet. Wallace headed towards the exit first, eager to get revenge. But the door suddenly opened and Wallace instantly froze… Because of the lighting issues, he couldn't instantly recognize the person, but he recognized the tall slim silhouette.

"Winona?"

The other Gym Leaders rose to their feet in surprise. The Fortree Gym Leader took a few steps closer so that the others could see her. She had bandages wrapped (rather crudely) around her head, left shoulder, and her chest, had several band aids on her face, and there were quite a few tears in her clothes (more band aids and bandages were visible through the holes).

"I thought you were dead!" Flannery exclaimed as she ran up to her friend/supervisor.

"Well, as they say," the Fortree Gym Leader started with a shrug (as much as possible with a broken shoulder). "The news of my death has been greatly… not _that_ greatly, I guess… exaggerated."

Wallace was still frozen, unable to believe his eyes. Winona looked at him for a second before she approached her other colleagues.

"I heard from right outside that you were getting ready to attack our enemy, and I want a piece of them," she said, her good hand clenched into a fist.

Juan cleared his throat. "Young lady, you are in no condition to engage the enemy. It would be best if you stay here and focus on recovering. You have full access to the emergency medical room the Pokémon Association had built here. Wait and we will find a doctor from the Mauville Hospital."

Winona sighed. "I guess that's… logical." She looked at Flannery and her other friends. "Good luck. If things go smoothly, I'll be there to fight alongside you shortly."

"Winona… how did you…" Wallace started.

"It's a long story. Retake Slateport, Lilycove, and Fortree City, then I'll tell you," the Fortree Gym Leader said. "Right now, focus on fighting the enemy. You don't need me to tell you that…"

…

Meanwhile, Pallet Town, 8:30 am…

…

The Dex Holders were gathered at the big table in Professor Oak's lab, waiting for Blue to tell them the result of her task the previous night. But they weren't expecting what the Kanto girl said.

"What?" Red asked.

"I said, ShadowNet is coming _here_ in less than half an hour!" Blue repeated. "And to be concise, Giovanni _is_ on our side. He really doesn't have any ulterior motive for helping us. He said that Team Rocket will face ShadowNet first during their invasion to prove to us that they really don't have any ill intentions and to buy us more time to prepare. That's why I had all of you gathered here and forced you to eat your breakfast as fast as possible."

"Right… we don't know how long the battle is going to last, and we'll need energy to fight continuously," Green muttered.

"And since they're attacking us, if we were to win the fight, we'll chase them into Johto. And I forgot to mention this, but I think their HQ is in Goldenrod City. So if we manage to drive them back that far, we'll need to secure that city above all else."

Red jumped to his feet. "Right." He looked at his team members, who were looking at him expectantly. "Alright, you guys in my team, we're going to meet the enemy head-on. So let's go!" Before Green or Blue said anything (not that they were going to), the Kanto champion ran out of the lab.

Gold and Sapphire jumped to their feet and ran after their senior. Platinum ran as well, equally excited about the upcoming battle. She wasn't excited about the battle itself, but rather an opportunity to help her seniors.

"Gold, you're on the lead," Red said as he looked back at the goggled boy. "Sapphire, you're on support. If Gold needs help or you see an opening, attack from the side with everything you have." The Kanto champion looked at Platinum. "Platinum, you're coming with me. We're going to wait until Gold and Sapphire has the enemy's attention, then we're going to attack them in the middle. And don't hesitate to suggest things."

"Yes, senior!" the heiress exclaimed happily.

Sapphire glanced at her junior and unintentionally clenched her hands into fists. Realizing that she had been jealous (again), she quickly forced herself to smile and ran ahead of her teammates to hide and see if ShadowNet was approaching.

Back in the lab, Green team left as well. They were going to wait until ShadowNet was battling Red team and Team Rocket, and then they would attack from behind.

As she was too sleepy to think or battle properly (slept for less than four hours), Blue was going to overlook the entire battle from high above and get her team members to help whichever team needed help, and get Yellow to heal their Pokémon.

Blue yawned as she sent out her Wigglytuff. She tried to shake away her sleepiness and hopped on. Before she could lift off, Silver stopped her.

"Sis, I need to ask. What's with those bruises on your neck?"

Noticing the worried expression on Silver's face, Blue tried to avoid a clear answer. "Don't worry about it. It was just an accident."

"… Did my father do that to you?"

Blue looked into his eyes and sighed. "… Yes… But it was an accident, I told you. An alarm somehow got triggered and he caught me as I tried to escape. He let me go right after he recognized me."

"Did he say anything?"

"He just told me to look after you," Blue said part truthfully. "He wants you to trust him a lot more."

…

Route 1, 20 minutes later…

…

The ShadowNet Kanto assault group leader glanced backwards and saw roughly 600 grunts following him on various Flying type Pokémon. Below the group leader, roughly 200 more grunts followed on land, riding vehicles and various Pokémon as well. The plan was to simply overwhelm the Dex Holders who were reported to be staying in Pallet Town. The reports say the Dex Holders were planning on advancing to Johto, so ShadowNet was going to strike first. The Dex Holders were sure to retreat if they are overwhelmed and the assault group was to follow them and conquer as many cities as possible before the Dex Holders vanish. They were eventually going to succeed in retreating, as chasing 13 people with over 800 while maintaining enough battle strength to handle the Dex Holders fighting back was… difficult. Then, with large reinforcements arriving from Hoenn within 3 days, Kanto would fall under ShadowNet control.

Suddenly, there was a report from the leading grunts that they were being attacked from the ground. The assault group leader thought that the Dex Holders have finally found them and ordered all the grunts to charge. But when he arrived at the battle, he realized that the grunts were not battling the Dex Holders.

"What the… Team Rocket?" the leader muttered. He instantly froze. He hadn't counted on having to deal with Team Rocket. He figured that they were going to be on his side and help destroy the Dex Holders instead of helping _them_.

The leader ordered the grunts to fight Team Rocket first. If they had to fight both Team Rocket and the Dex Holders, then they might as well fight one group at a time. But as the ShadowNet grunts were engaging the Rocket grunts, a giant stream of fire blasted a large group of the Flying Pokémon out of the air.

On the ground, Gold sent out his entire team and had them engage the enemy ground forces while he let his Typhlosion rest for a little while after the initial Blast Burn. Since ShadowNet was a little disoriented from the sudden appearance of Team Rocket, there were lots of openings for strong attacks. Sapphire didn't have to wait long to join her senior in attacking. She sent out her Blaziken and had it use Blast Burn against a tight group of enemies high in the air and with the rest of her team, proceeded to fight the ground forces. She was going to leave the aerial forces to Team Rocket for now.

From high in the air, Blue could see the entire battle below. She could see that Green team had joined on the attack from the north, cooperating with Red team in a pincer-like attack pattern. A few small groups of Team Rocket grunts assisted the Dex Holder teams in doing such, and the Kanto girl could see that the ShadowNet assault team had broken up in two to fight both teams at once. She zoomed in on the battle with her Silph Scope and pulled out her Pokégear.

"Silver and Ruby, go over to Sapphire's location. There are too many enemies there," she ordered. She looked at each of her friends and noticed that Red and Platinum were about to charge into the enemy ground forces. "Dia," she called through her Pokégear. "Go to Platinum and help her and Red."

Blue scanned the battle again to see if there was anything useful she could tell her friends. Instead, she noticed something coming from the north and zoomed in. She could see a Miltank using Rollout to knock over a few ShadowNet Pokémon. Blue looked slightly up north and could see that Whitney had arrived at the battle for some reason.

Just then, several huge attack blasts came from the Dex Holder teams, and Blue realized that her friends have just used the ultimate moves together against the same target (center of ShadowNet aerial forces). The resulting explosion knocked out a large group of ShadowNet grunts and Pokémon.

"Green, Whitney's here for some reason," Blue said through her Pokégear. "Go and attack with her." She then called Yellow and with her Silph Scope, zoomed in on Gold's position. "Yellow, go over to Gold. He's fighting too many enemies at once all alone. Help him with your Volt Tackle."

The Kanto girl examined the battle from high above and sighed. There were too many ShadowNet grunts here… Despite the fact that the majority of them weren't good at battling and weren't using properly trained Pokémon, ShadowNet could still manage to overwhelm the Dex Holders and Team Rocket. Blue knew that she was going to need additional allies to overcome the enemy over 4 times the number as the Dex Holders and Team Rocket grunts put together.

However, unknown to her, there _were_ additional allies heading towards the battlefield. Sabrina and a big group of Team Rocket grunts were about to Teleport into the battle from Saffron City, the Johto Elite Four (including Lance) were heading towards Route 1 from the Victory Road, a group of volunteers were heading south from Pewter City after Brock had been notified by Professor Oak, and currently over Cinnabar Islands, a trainer riding on a Salamence was heading towards Pallet Town as fast as possible…

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, Winona is alive. It's not a decision I've made recently, as I never wanted her dead to begin with. If I wanted someone dead in the story, I would've made it pretty obvious. The early SA plans had her returning in SA #009. That didn't happen because of the difference between SA and its original plans. The original return of Winona is in the WCHB of this chapter.<strong>

**IMPORTANT NOTE: as of January 22, my profile features the latest news for all of my stories whether they are complete or in progress. Check those news updates for explanations and answers to questions regarding my stories (such as… an alert for SR #005 being sent but the chapter is missing). If you review a question related to SA, SE, and/or SR, then the answers to those questions will appear in those notes (as long as the answer won't spoil anything).**

**Also note: from this point on, majority (if not all) of the WCHB moments will have 'conditions', such that the WCHB moment would have actually happened in the SA storyline if all the conditions were met, like they were in the original plans.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Conditions:  
>ShadowNet in Hoenn did not move to assist attacking Kanto.<br>The Hoenn Gym Leaders did not move to New Mauville.  
>The Dex Holders do not know of ShadowNet's existence yet.<br>Less than 30 hours have passed since Operation: UPPERCUT.

…

August 12, secret Pokémon Association meeting room in Fortree City…

…

The Gym Leaders sat in silence, staring blankly at the object Wallace had just placed on the center of the table.

"Wallace… is that what I think it is?" Flannery asked, her voice shaking.

The Hoenn champion simply nodded. He looked at the object on the table and closed his eyes. He couldn't bear looking at it. It was the recovered half of Winona's helmet, still covered in dried crimson blood.

"… Listen everyone," he started after a few moments of silence. "Winona is… gone. But we have to fight… to avenge her… ShadowNet should be getting careless from their constant victories, so we'll attack them now."

The other Gym Leaders soon nodded and started to discuss an attack plan. But before the discussion yielded any results, the door opened from behind and someone stood in the doorway. Noticing the Gym Leaders' shocked expressions, Wallace turned around. He simply froze upon recognizing who was there.

"W – Winona?"

The Fortree Gym Leader staggered inside the meeting room, her left arm hanging limp and her right hand placed firmly on her side. She seemed to have broken a few ribs and her left arm from the fall. She still had one half of her helmet on, and there were several deep gashes on her face, particularly the half with no helmet. The half of her face was covered in wide streak of dry blood and she had many dark blood patches all over her clothes.

"If… if you're going to fight the enemy," she started weakly. "… I'm going with you…"


	16. Shadow of Intent

**MISC: Abilities. Every Pokémon will have both of its default Abilities. Any and all Pokémon with a Dream World Ability will also have its regular Abilities, but not the other way around. Example: Red's Espeon has Synchronize but not Magic Bounce. Green's Scizor has both Swarm and Technician. The prisoner girl's Espeon (whatever the girl's name is… it's undecided) has both Magic Bounce and Synchronize. Any and all Lucarios have the unfortunate case of having both Steadfast and Inner Focus.**

**Reason: if a Pokémon is capable of doing something or has characteristics that are in the form of an Ability, then it stands to reason that it has both Abilities. Bronzong is made of heatproof metal (hence Ability Heatproof) and it's freaking floating (hence Ability Levitate). This is all a part of game mechanics that will be ignored. If this MISC needs further explanation, it will be given in SE #033's MISC: Mechanics 3, where I will cover more Moves (TM + HM + Move Tutor/glitch/capabilities/etc) and other game-balance mechanics.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 15: Shadow of Intent<p>

Olivine City, Johto…

"Where's Whitney? Did she even get to Pallet Town yet?" Falkner asked Morty.

"Why ask me?"

"… Because you're psychic?"

"Oh, right. Well, I can't be bothered with it right now. We got work to do. Jasmine's stuck in the lighthouse over there, and there are quite a few bad guys surrounding the place."

Falkner stared at the ShadowNet grunts surrounding the Olivine Lighthouse. "Is it just me, or… did they attack us with like 7 times as much guys?"

"They did. I wonder where everyone else went."

"Well, we haven't seen any of them on our way here from Goldenrod. They might be at another city."

"Doesn't matter. We'll save Olivine City first before we move on. Let's go!"

…

Route 1, Kanto, 10 am…

…

Blue ducked on top of her Wigglytuff as an Ice Beam barely missed her. It seemed that the aerial ShadowNet forces were going to attack her first, as she was the one overlooking the entire battle (and was the easiest target because she was in the air with no defenses). Blue had temporarily given all of her Pokémon (except Ditto and Wigglytuff) to her juniors, but in return, she had gotten Tropius and Aerodactyl from Sapphire and Red. She sent out both Pokémon and engaged the enemy in an aerial battle.

'_It's moments like these when I wish I kept Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres…_' Blue thought bitterly.

Blue stared at Red's Aerodactyl, wondering what she was going to do with it. She didn't know what it was capable of. She never trained with it. Sure, she saw Red use it a few times (against her once or twice), but she didn't know the full details. But she was sure that it was strong enough to knock out the average Pokémon just by flying into it. Sapphire's Tropius, on the other hand…

Blue pulled out her Pokédex and checked Tropius's data. But the sunlight reflecting off of the screen was making it rather difficult. Then a thought occurred…

"Solarbeam!" Blue ordered. Red's Aerodactyl looked at her with a confused look. "No, not you, you idiot!" she yelled at it. '_Like trainer like Pokémon…_' "Sapphire's Tropius, Solarbeam!"

The Fruit Pokémon did as told and blasted the nearest ShadowNet Pelipper away. Red's Aerodactyl simply charged into groups of ShadowNet aerial Pokémon, using its Rock Head (Ability Rock Head + the fact that Aerodactyls are Rock types) to ram things and using its large powerful wings to swat smaller things away.

Blue tapped her Wigglytuff. "Do you still remember Tri Attack?" she asked.

The Balloon Pokémon nodded and Blue almost fell off.

"Don't nod like that!" she scolded. "Just make a sound of acknowledgement or something. Anyways… go, Tri Attack!"

The Wigglytuff did as ordered and zapped, burned, and froze a small group of ShadowNet aerial forces. Suddenly, the Balloon Pokémon shook violently as several strong attacks hit it. Blue fell off from the sudden motion and managed to grab her Wigglytuff's foot before it was too late. She looked at her Pokémon and seeing the wounds on its lower back, she realized that it had taken hits from its large blind spot. There were lots of Swellows and Staravias flying around, so Blue assumed that her Wigglytuff had been hit by multiple Aerial Aces.

She tried to climb back up, but her arms were way too sore. She had strained them while trying to infiltrate the Team Rocket base the previous night. Blue hadn't climbed through windows high above the ground for years, after all.

Then she realized how much of a trouble she was in. Sapphire's Tropius and Red's Aerodactyl were busy dealing with some of the ShadowNet aerial forces, leaving the group of Swellows and Staravias all to Blue and her Wigglytuff. Seeing how the Balloon Pokémon wasn't adept in aerial combat, there was little it could do. Blue knew that without other aerial or anti-air support from her friends, she was screwed.

The Wigglytuff started to take more attacks from the Staravias and Swellows. It tried its best to fight back, but the small Flying type Pokémon were way too fast. And to make things worse, some of the ShadowNet Pokémon was aiming at Blue…

The Kanto girl soon found herself surrounded by a group of Swellows, Staravias, and a few Staraptors. She kicked the nearest one in the face and tried her best to protect herself.

'_Fighting for my life against a ton of birds high above the ground…_' she thought as she took a Wing Attack to the back. '_This would've been my worst nightmare several years ago…_' She took another Wing Attack and her hand slipped off of the Wigglytuff's foot. While plummeting to the ground, she returned her Wigglytuff to its Pokéball and spread her arms and legs to maximize drag. '_This is how Sapphire's coach died, huh? If this is my fate…_'

Blue clenched her eyes shut and braced herself for one hell of an impact. But just as she was about to accept her death, someone grabbed her arm and saved her. Blue opened her eyes and noticed that she was still quite high in the air…

"Pesky girl… why do you have to make me do everything?" came a familiar voice.

Blue looked up and saw Green holding onto her while riding his Charizard. "Green?"

"And I told you to be careful, and that we all need you here!" the Gym Leader yelled in a scolding manner as he lifted Blue onto his Charizard.

Blue ignored his reprimand and hugged him from behind. "Oh, thank you Green! You saved me in a heroic fashion for once!" She soon let go and looked at the ShadowNet ground forces. "But why are you here? I thought you were fighting them."

"I was, but Sabrina arrived with a large contingent of Rocket members so I came here to assist," Green replied. "The Johto Elite Four have come with a bunch of volunteers, and they're attacking ShadowNet from the north. Your enemies are here as well, so I ordered some of the Dex Holders to assist with the aerial combat."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Will and Karen are here as a part of the Johto Elite Four. You and Silver hate them and naturally, won't work well with them."

"Oh… good call."

The Viridian Gym Leader looked around and soon barked orders through his Pokégear. "Silver, help Sapphire's Tropius! Gold, help Red's Aerodactyl! Crystal, use Future Sight and Psychic on the group of Swellow directly east of your position!"

As the three Johto Dex Holders moved as ordered, Green got his Charizard to land.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Blue asked.

"You're getting off," Green replied. "Go back to the lab and get some rest. You've done enough. And see if our communication devices are ready yet. Hanging up and calling again and again to give orders is really annoying, especially in the middle of a battle."

"But…" Even as Blue tried to argue, Green had basically pushed her off his Charizard and headed back up to fight ShadowNet. "… Fine, be that way, you jerk…"

Blue slowly headed towards Pallet Town, as there wasn't much she could do without a combat capable Pokémon. Her body was aching here and there thanks to the barrage of Wing Attacks. She looked at her arms and could see some bruises forming already. She poked one and winced.

"Ow… stupid bruises…"

As she entered the boundaries of Pallet Town, she could see a Salamence flying towards her from the distance. Blue stayed where she was and eyed the Salamence carefully. When it came closer, a trainer hopped off (a bit too high, maybe, as he had to roll on the ground to lessen the impact).

"Excuse me," he started as he straightened his clothes. "Do you know what happened in Johto?"

"Well… yes, but who are you?" Blue asked.

"Someone very important to me was in Johto recently. Can you tell me what exactly happened?" the trainer asked instead. "I've been told that many cities have been destroyed by this thing called ShadowNet."

"That's true, yes. ShadowNet is an evil group who apparently wants to take over every single region. They took over Johto, and I heard that they've taken over Hoenn too. And now, they want Kanto so they sent an army. Team Rocket, the Johto Elite Four, and all of my friends are fighting them in Route 1 right now."

"Great. Then Johto should be quite empty right now!"

The trainer hopped onto his Salamence once more and then sent out four other Pokémon. Blue recognized three of them as Flygon, Dragonite, and Garchomp. She had no idea what the fourth one was, but it sure looked monstrous…

"To Violet City! Let's go!"

Blue simply watched as the trainer and his Dragon Pokémon headed west towards Johto. A thought suddenly occurred and she hastily took out her Pokégear.

"Red, this is Blue. Get _every_ Dex Holder back to Pallet Town right now! Leave the battle to the Elite Four and Team Rocket. There's something urgent we need to do."

Blue hung up and thought over her plan. Suddenly, her Pokégear vibrated as it received a call. She looked at it and noticed that the caller ID was Lt. Surge. Wondering when and how the Rocket Commander got her Pokégear number, she answered the call.

…

Several minutes later, Route 27, Kanto/Johto border…

…

Five Dragon Pokémon were heading towards Violet City, with Salamence in the center and the other four scanning the area. As expected, there was absolutely no resistance from the enemy. The trainer on the Salamence looked ahead. He couldn't see clearly, but there were distinct columns of smoke rising to the sky from New Bark Town ahead. Realizing that he needed to get to Violet City as fast as possible, he signaled his Garchomp (his fastest Pokémon) to come closer. Once the Mach Pokémon did as told, the trainer jumped off his Salamence and landed on the Garchomp. He then returned the other Dragon Pokémon back into their Pokéballs.

"Go to Violet City as fast as you can manage," he told the Garchomp.

He took his hat off and made himself as aerodynamic as possible. The Garchomp sped up as fast as it could without having its trainer thrown off. It couldn't reach mach speeds, but it was still fast enough to reach Violet City within 15 minutes. He got off his Garchomp and returned it to its Pokéball. Afterwards, he sent out his Hydreigon. It was his best choice when considering size and power. All 6 of his Pokémon were quite big and strong, but he still preferred the smallest of them all. Garchomp and Salamence were his strongest, but they were… big. Dragonite was even bigger (and also quite slow in comparison). Flygon wasn't that big, but it was his weakest Pokémon.

Within five minutes, he found something helpful. An Espeon appeared from behind the remnants of the Violet Gym, having sensed the trainer's presence. The trainer recognized the Espeon and after scanning the area for a short while, quickly ran towards it. Once he got close, the Sun Pokémon pointed southwest. The trainer looked where the Espeon pointed and sighed. The Sun Pokémon jumped onto the trainer's shoulders and after digging around in his bag, found his hat. It then put the hat on the trainer's head and cuddled up to his neck.

The trainer smiled. "Just like the old days…"

…

Vermillion City, 10:30 am…

…

Silver quietly patrolled around the harbor, trying to find any hint of ShadowNet presence. Lt. Surge had told Blue about a possible ShadowNet gathering in the city near the harbor somewhere, and after a short discussion with Red, the Kanto girl had decided to send Silver over to Vermillion while the Rocket Commander dealt with the ships coming in and out of the harbor.

Silver was about to conclude that there was no enemy in the city when he heard a loud scream coming from far away. He reacted quickly and was already on the way with his Weavile and Honchkrow within a second of hearing the scream.

Near the center of the city, there was a commotion involving a small group of men in uniform and a couple of teenagers, a boy and a girl. The group of men was attacking the two teenagers with several Gengars and Houndooms. The teenagers had Pokémon which Silver did not recognize, but he could tell that the two were losing. The boy was standing in a protective stance with the girl behind him.

"Miss President, get out of here! I'll hold them off!" the boy yelled to the girl.

The girl shook her head. "No! I'm going to fight with you. You can't win alone."

Silver remained hidden from view and simply watched the battle. He was going to use the two teens as a way of seeing what the enemy was capable of doing. He mused that this was the main difference between Red and Blue. Red would've tried to save the teens as soon as he saw them, but Blue would most likely do what Silver was doing. She would watch from a distance and see what she was dealing with before doing anything.

The boy's Pokémon, clearly a Fire type, attempted what appeared to be a Flamethrower against one of the Houndooms. It appeared that the two teens had no idea what they were up against. The Houndoom, with stronger Fire type attacks thanks to Flash Fire, retaliated with its own Flamethrower. The boy's Pokémon took the hit, but was severely weakened. The girl's Pokémon was in no condition to help either. The deer-like Pokémon had taken several Sludge Bombs from the group of Gengars.

Silver was going to watch some more when several Houndooms and Gengars aimed their attacks at the girl. The boy stepped in and took several Dark Pulses and Shadow Balls in the process, but the situation was clearly dire. The Johto Dex Holder decided that he saw enough and quickly ran over to assist.

While Silver was on the move, the ShadowNet grunts ordered another Dark Pulse at the boy. This time, the attack hit him on the head and knocked him out cold.

"Black! No!" the girl screamed. She turned to glare at the enemy. "Why are you doing this?"

The ShadowNet grunts didn't reply and simply ordered a Shadow Ball at the boy. The girl saw the attack and did the only thing she could think of: she stepped in and took the hit instead, as her Pokémon were in no condition to do anything. She screamed in pain as the Shadow Ball hit her directly above the heart and knocked her down. The attack nearly knocked her out and she couldn't breathe.

Coughing violently, the girl slowly sat up. She put a hand over her heart to help withstand the pain and glared at the group of ShadowNet grunts.

"Crunch," one of the grunts ordered.

The Houndoom leapt towards the girl with its teeth bared. The girl screamed and tried to back away, but the Dark Pokémon was too fast. It would have bit her, but Silver's Honchkrow had arrived just in time to smack it away. The ShadowNet grunts seemed alarmed at the sudden intrusion. Silver glared at them as he stood between them and the two teens. He glanced at the girl, who was currently embracing the unconscious boy while looking at him. She had a rather frightened expression, as she didn't know who he was. Silver ignored her and got his Honchkrow and Weavile to prepare for battle.

The pack of Houndooms started to attack the Weavile. But the Sharp Claw Pokémon was way too fast. It kept dodging every Flamethrower and whenever a Houndoom attempted a Fire Fang or Crunch, it ended up eating an Ice Shard.

While Weavile dealt with the Houndooms, Honchkrow dealt with the Gengars. Honchkrow wasn't fast, but it overcame its lack of speed with Sucker Punch.

Silver glanced back and forth between his two Pokémon before sending out his Feraligatr. He pointed at the Houndooms first, and once his Weavile had jumped out of the way, the Feraligatr blasted the ShadowNet Pokémon with Hydro Pump.

The ShadowNet grunts decided that it was time to escape. They returned their Pokémon and started to run. Silver considered chasing them, but decided not to. Instead, he got his Weavile to throw a tiny tracking device onto one of them so that he'd find out where they went. Well, Blue would find out, and she'd probably tell him first.

"Mission accomplished, sis," Silver said through his Pokégear. "ShadowNet reconnaissance team was in Vermillion City. I chased them away, and planted a tracking device on one of them."

"Very good Silver," came Blue's voice.

"And sis, are you okay?" Silver asked. He could hear Blue sigh.

"I'll be fine, Silver. It was just a few Wing Attacks; nothing major."

"But still…"

"Listen, it's not like I was hit by a Spike Cannon. I'll be perfectly fine. I just have a few bruises here and there. I've been through worse, Silver. You know that better than anyone else."

"Alright, sis."

"Good. Now, once you're done sightseeing in Vermillion City, look for some more ShadowNet recon teams and try to find people who can help us fight them. I've sent Ruby and Dia to do the same thing in Cerulean and Celadon."

"Alright. I'll see you once I get back."

Silver hung up and turned to look at the two teens he had just saved. The girl still had the unconscious boy in her arms, as if she was afraid to let him go.

"Thank you so much for helping," the girl said with a bow.

Silver was about to walk away when he noticed something in the girl's hand. It was a small mechanical device that currently showed data on Weavile… The Johto Dex Holder snatched it away from the girl.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the girl asked as she tried to take her device back.

Silver's Weavile simply pushed her away and stood between her and its owner. Silver stared at the device for a short while before he called Crystal.

"Hey Crys, this is Silver."

"Hi Silver. If you're asking about the communications device, it's almost complete. Just a few more-"

"How much do you know about the next versions of the Pokédex?" Silver asked.

"Version VIII? It's in preparation for development. I don't know whether it'll be a success or not, but if it is, then probably Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald would get them," came Crystal's reply.

"Uh… how much do you know about the _most recent_ version of the Pokédex?"

"Version VII? I heard Professor Oak talk about them to someone on a conference, but I don't know much about them. But why do you ask?"

"I think I'm looking at one right now."

"What? How?"

"There's a girl here with one."

"Actually," the girl started quietly so that she wouldn't interfere on the phone call. "That's not mine." She pointed at the unconscious boy. "It's his."

"Okay, the Pokédex isn't hers, but I'm looking at one anyways. Crys, can you come over here and check it out?"

"Sure, Silver. I'll be there shortly."

Silver glanced at the unconscious boy and the girl. "Crys, meet me in Celadon City's hospital."

"Why? Are you hurt?" came Crystal's worried voice.

"No. But the owner of the Pokédex version VII took one too many Shadow Balls to the head. His friend's not doing so well either. I'll see you in Celadon."

"Hospital?" the girl muttered. "Thank you…"

Silver hung up and looked at the girl. "Do you have aerial transport?"

"Well, no, but my friend does, and it's strong enough to carry both of us," the girl replied.

"Good. Follow me then."

Silver returned his Weavile and Feraligatr and got his Honchkrow to grab his hand. The girl hastily returned her Pokémon and her friend's. She then found the aerial transport Pokémon from her friend's belt and followed Silver.

…

Pallet Town…

…

"Okay. This is what we're going to do," Blue started. "Red, you and your team are going to Johto. Majority of ShadowNet forces are fighting the Johto Elite Four and Team Rocket, so it should be quite quiet in Johto. Green, you and your team are going to stay in Pallet Town and finish the communications device. Make sure that no one else can hack the frequency. I'll try to help you on that. My team and Yellow will search around Kanto for ShadowNet activity. Silver found a recon team in Vermillion City, so we'll have to check the major and significant cities."

"Okay then," Red started. "My team, this is what we're going to do. Platinum, you'll need to borrow a Pokémon that can Fly. Now, I'll be going to Goldenrod to secure the Magnet Train Station. Gold, go to Olivine to secure the harbor. Sapphire, head to Ecruteak City. It's a major city of Johto and a key location of northern Johto. Platinum, you go over to Violet City. There won't be much there, but if the ShadowNet forces from Route 1 retreat, they'll have to cross Violet City."

"Yes, senior." Platinum turned to look at Gold. "Senior, may I borrow your Togekiss?"

"Sure," Gold said. He reached into his pocket and tossed the heiress the Pokéball containing his Togekiss. "You know what to do with it?"

"Yes, senior. I… have used one once before," Platinum replied. The unpleasant memories popped up in her mind, but she shook them away.

Suddenly, Blue's Pokégear started to vibrate. The Kanto girl looked at it.

"Sabrina?" she muttered, looking at the caller ID. "How did she get my Pokégear number? … Why do _all_ of the Team Rocket heads know my Pokégear number?"

"Because I'm _psychic_," Sabrina answered when Blue picked up. "When the boss, Surge and I entered that lab yesterday, I took the liberty of accessing your minds and getting the Pokégear numbers of you, Red, and Green. It was necessary, as we were going to work with you. Surely, there was no harm in that?"

"Next time, why don't you just_ ask_?" Blue seethed. "What else did you see? Did you read the minds of others as well?"

"No. I prefer to not read minds unless it's necessary. What someone thinks is a personal matter that I have no interest in usurping. Anyways, I called to let you know that ShadowNet forces are retreating. It seems that several Johto Gym Leaders have retaken Olivine City. I have sent 40 Rocket members to that lab. Do as you wish. They have been instructed to follow the orders of you, Red, and Green."

Sabrina hung up afterwards and Blue simply sat in silence to process the information. She put the Pokégear down and sighed.

"Okay… um… change of plans," she said. "ShadowNet forces are retreating. Apparently the Johto Gym Leaders retook Olivine City so ShadowNet must feel that their foundation in Johto is faltering. Sabrina sent use 40 Rocket grunts. So Red, take them to Johto. I'm sure they'll be of great help."

"Alright then, let's go meet them," Red said.

The Kanto champion rose to his feet and left the lab. His entire team followed. Outside the lab, 40 Rocket grunts stood around, waiting.

"Where are we going?" one of them asked.

"Okay, divide yourselves into four groups of 10 and listen up," the Kanto champion said. Once the Rocket grunts did as ordered, he continued. '_I never thought more Rocket grunts could be a good thing…_' "The first group is going to follow me to Goldenrod City. The second group will go with Gold to Blackthorn City. The next group will go with Sapphire to Ecruteak City. The last group will go with Platinum to Violet City."

Red team and the four Rocket groups prepared to leave for Johto. But unfortunately, not everyone was happy about the team division…

…

Meanwhile, ShadowNet Johto HQ, Goldenrod City…

…

The prisoner girl hugged her knees and rocked back and forth inside her cell, afraid to do anything. Ever since her captors tested their mind control device on her, there was an uncomfortable presence in her mind.

Her captors have tested more versions of their mind control device on her, and each use seemed to make the unwanted presence larger. The presence was dormant, at least, but it wasn't leaving. She didn't want to know what would happen if the presence woke up.

The girl firmly placed her hands on her temples and tried to force the presence out, but to no avail.

"No… no… no…" she whimpered out. "He's… he's coming… No… … Don't be a fool… … Leave me!" She started to rock back and forth much faster as she started to lose focus. "Of course… you never listened to me before…" She started to laugh as the white material from the mind control device tests began to form on her face again. "It's happening again. How fun…"

…

Skies over Johto, 11 am…

…

A Rocket grunt silently grit his teeth as he watched his _team leader_, a girl who was younger than his own daughter. And this girl wasn't even like the other one on the Johto mission, who had proven herself to be ridiculously tough through the whole Groudon and Kyogre incident, _then_ the fake Kyogre incident a year after.

He looked over to his right, where his friend was riding his Pidgeot. He had the same thoughts, so they had formulated a plan to be set into motion the moment they landed in Violet City.

The friend looked around and after ensuring that no one else was watching, sent a message to someone through his phone.

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: Sir, we just got a message from a Rocket member.

L: And?

D: He suggests we post a couple of squads in Violet City. He says that we'll be able to capture a Dex Holder.

L: Really? In that case, post fours squads in Violet City. Have two appear to follow his suggestion and have the other two hide and look in case he's lying. Oh, who responded to our calls?

D: Uh… we have two ex-Galactic Commanders so far.

L: Excellent. I believe there are two members of the Johto Elite Four who aren't entirely 'justice-crazy'. I'm certain that they'll join us if we lure them properly. I hear they're rather crazy for power and the fun of conquering. They'll be great assets.

D: Yes sir. I'll send them a mail.

* * *

><p><strong>Two SE chapters are related to this one. Care to guess which ones?<strong>

**No, this does not mean that one of those two SE chapters take place in Vermillion and Celadon. This is the SA-ified version of the SE chapter.**

**Yes, Jigglypuff and Wigglytuff get Tri Attack. Generation I TM 49. Wait for the MISC in SE #033 for more details.**

**For those who aren't familiar with the game mechanics, Ability Steadfast raises Speed by 1 stage (+50%) each time the Pokémon flinches. Ability Inner Focus **_**prevents**_** flinching, thus Steadfast never triggers if a Pokémon was to have both (not a good combination). Similarly, a Spinda (who uses these things anyways?) with both abilities would suck. Own Tempo prevents being Confused, and Tangled Feet raises Evasiveness by 1 stage (+33.3333…%) when Confused.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Conditions:  
>Whitney arrives at Pallet Town before the ShadowNet attack.<br>The Dex Holders are unaware of the impending ShadowNet invasion.

…

Pallet Town, 9 am, August 14…

…

"Whitney, what are you doing here?" Green asked.

"Johto's been taken by a big evil team!"

"Yeah, we know," Gold said. "We've known that for a day now."

"… Oh…" the Goldenrod Gym Leader muttered. "Well… um…"

"Well, why don't you go back to Goldenrod City?" Gold suggested. "You know, actually _help_ fight them."

"Oh come on! I just got here!" Whitney yelled. "I spent a whole day getting all the way here just to tell you guys!"

"And like I said, we know about ShadowNet."

"They're called ShadowNet?"

"… Yes. See? You're of no help to us. We even know more than you!"

* * *

><p><strong>Now review, people. The review button may not look like a button, but it's still a button. Read, review, repeat. The 3 Rs for 3 Ss (may become 4 Ss, but we'll see).<strong>


	17. Two Betrayals

**June 3… SA celebrates its 1 year anniversary! Yay…**

**There were a few question-reviews in SA #015, and the answers are in this chapter.**

**And I thought I forgot something about the last chapter, and it turns out, there was. Good catch, faithful reviewer (I will not say the name/ID, but I'm sure you know who you are). Somehow, I **_**completely**_** forgot about the physics involving Blue falling off and being caught. Given the description, it sounds as if she fell quite a bit before Green caught her, and in that situation, Blue's arm would've been dislocated at the least. Now, being way too lazy to fix the problem in the last chapter, I'll simply provide a crude explanation in this chapter. I might overcome my laziness and fix this chapter and the previous one if my explanations seem too crappy.**

**Also, given the latest reveal of Pokémon Special, I've updated the ages of the Dex Holders. Keep in mind that the age relations are completely accurate from Red to Emerald, and Diamond to Platinum, but not from Emerald to Diamond. I haven't a clue as to how old the Sinnoh trio are compared to their seniors, and in that regard, I haven't a clue as to how old White is, and how old Black and White are compared to everyone else. Therefore, the age relations for them are simply speculations, and will be updated as more info is revealed.**

**MISC: Ages 2, Gold and Crystal as basis (change/addition in italics):**

**Red, Green, Blue: +4  
><strong>**Yellow, Silver: +1  
><strong>**Ruby, Sapphire: -1  
><strong>**Emerald, **_**Black, White**_**: -2  
><strong>_**Platinum**_**: -3  
><strong>**Diamond, Pearl: -4**

**Check the news for details. Chances are, you've already heard what you're going to see, but if you didn't, then the news will be quite new. … That probably could've been worded better.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 16: Two Betrayals<p>

Olivine City, 12 pm…

"Hey, Morty," Falkner said as he looked down at Olivine City from on top of the lighthouse.

"What?"

"Why don't you use your psychic powers to see where our enemies are coming from?"

"Well… I can't," the Ecruteak Gym Leader replied. "I can look for something specific that belongs to someone, or the owner of a specific item. Trying to find the enemy's base of operations would be impossible unless our enemies took your Skarmory or something there."

"Oh. In that case, I guess we have no choice but to look for it the old fashioned way. Oh yeah, and I wanted to ask you something for a few years now."

"What?"

"Does it bother you that Gold saw Ho-oh 6 years ago without even looking for it when you spent your entire life and got nothing?"

"… Yes," the Ecruteak Gym Leader replied with a sullen expression. "The only comfort I get is that Suicune ignored Eusine and chose Crystal _right in front of him_. But that's irrelevant! You stay here while I go over to Cianwood City to find and help Chuck."

"Then there are those other Dex Holders too. I heard that one got kidnapped by Ho-oh when she was 5. Come to think of it, _a lot_ of those Dex Holders had contact with Ho-oh while you-"

"Shut up…"

…

Violet City, 12:30 pm…

…

The dismayed Rocket grunt approached Platinum despite her orders to scatter around and search for a good defendable location for the oncoming ShadowNet forces. The heiress was alone at the moment, planning for the upcoming battle.

"Excuse me," started the Rocket grunt. "But there is something very urgent I need to talk to you about."

"Oh? What is it?" Platinum asked.

The Rocket grunt cleared his throat and began his prepared speech. "How trustworthy do you find Red?"

"Senior Red? He is very trustworthy and dependable. I do not think that he has ever lied."

"Ah. Well, you might see him as trustworthy, but I highly doubt that he sees you the same way."

Platinum looked stunned for a second. "Explain."

"He may have pretended to trust you enough to give you a mission, but in truth, he's suspicious. You are the worst battler in your team, yet he sent you alone to Violet City, the center of eastern Johto, and the city that ShadowNet will have to cross whether they're retreating to Johto, or going to attack Kanto. It may appear as if he's testing you, but he set you up to fail. If he was testing you, then he would've sent someone to Azalea Town to come to your aid. Goldenrod and Ecruteak are too important, so no one will come to your aid from there. He wants you to fail. He wants ShadowNet to either capture you or kill you."

"That is preposterous!" Platinum exclaimed, but her voice was shaking. "Why would he want such a thing?"

"If you fail your mission and he succeeds in his, which he will, then he will appear that much better. I do have a suggestion, however. If you follow it, then not only will you succeed in your mission, but you'll make the rest of your team members respect you. In fact, you could take Red's place and become your team's leader."

Platinum started to hyperventilate. '_Is that why senior Red ordered me to search the forest in the New Bark Town mission? Did he not trust me enough to battle beside me? But… he battled with me against ShadowNet in Route 1. Did he only do that to confirm his suspicion?_' She desperately recalled how Red had treated her for the past few days and tried to piece things together. But a thought soon occurred and she started to calm down. '_No… there is no way that senior Red has any enmity towards me. I have done nothing to anger him. I have showed him nothing but respect and there is absolutely no reason for him to hate me. This is probably a lie created by someone who wants to separate me from senior Red…_'

"So, what are you going to do?" the Rocket grunt asked.

"I shall complete the mission senior Red has given me," Platinum replied. "Even if senior Red does not trust me, I trust him. I trust that he will see my sincerity and know that I do not have any ill intentions towards him. Although I may have upset him on his birthday several days ago, I believe I have not done anything to annoy him afterwards. He has been taking very good care of me, and I will return his benevolence with trust and obedience."

"But do you trust him with your life?"

Platinum smiled. "Yes. I do. And nothing will change that, ever. Now please do not speak of this again."

The Rocket grunt sighed and walked away to find his friend. He found him near the remains of the Violet City Gym, looking into his phone. The friend saw him and put the phone away.

"How'd it go?"

"It didn't do anything," the Rocket grunt replied. "I guess that was a poorly thought out plan to begin with. No matter. Come on, let's put the second part of our plan in motion."

The two Rocket grunts sent out their Pokémon (a Scyther and a Cloyster) and headed towards the remains of the Violet City hotel, where Platinum was. The heiress turned around when she felt their presence.

"What is it?" she asked.

Instead of a reply, the first Rocket grunt simply pointed at her. At that instant, his Scyther dashed forward with the blade on its arm swinging. Platinum gasped in shock and quickly jumped backwards. But she couldn't jump out of the way entirely. Even as the heiress was in the air, the Scyther's blade hit her and cut across her stomach, leaving a deep, long gash.

Platinum screamed as she lost strength in her legs and fell onto her back. She placed her left arm around her big gaping wound and reached for the Pokéballs in her bag with her right. Unfortunately, before she could get her Empoleon's Pokéball, the Scyther had stabbed into her right forearm with its scythe. She let out another scream from the excruciating pain. Platinum glanced at her arm and could see that the blade had stabbed through, pinning her forearm to the ground. It didn't seem necessary, as she couldn't move her fingers.

The Scyther withdrew its blade and the Rocket grunt returned it to its Pokéball, as there was no chance of a battle occurring. Platinum groaned and rolled over to her side so she could try to push herself off the ground. The two Rocket grunts walked around her so they could look at the heiress's face as she struggled to breathe.

"Wh – Why…" Platinum gasped out. Dark blood spilled out from her mouth and the open wounds on her stomach and forearm.

"It's simple," the first Rocket grunt said. "You're not capable of leading us. We're taking over. I gave you a chance to prove yourself worthy and you failed miserably."

Just then, the other Rocket grunts in Violet City came running, as they heard Platinum screaming. The first Rocket grunt put a foot on top of the heiress's lower back and pushed down. Platinum writhed and tried to push the grunt off of her. Unfortunately, she couldn't exert anywhere near enough force…

"Listen up!" he yelled. He pushed down with his foot and spoke louder. "This girl here attempted to defect to ShadowNet and I stopped her. So from this point on, I'll be leading our team."

Platinum tried to speak but the severe pain in her stomach and the fact that she couldn't breathe prevented her from doing such. She could only look ahead in despair before she slowly passed out.

Just then, several ShadowNet grunts appeared from their hiding places all around. The first Rocket grunt looked around, wondering why they were there, and how they knew that his team was going to be there.

"Prepare to fight!" he yelled nonetheless.

The other Rocket grunts sent out their Pokémon, but they weren't going to listen to him. Though they may have been a little disappointed in having Platinum lead them, they still accepted the fact that the heiress was a very talented trainer and therefore accepted her as their leader. As such, they were going to fight ShadowNet _and_ the traitors.

The first Rocket grunt looked at his friend. He knew that he was the only one he could trust. But he was wrong. Just as he was about to reach for his Pokémon to fight ShadowNet, his friend's Cloyster shot a Spike Cannon directly into his chest.

"Wh – What? Why…"

"Sorry, friend," said the ex-Rocket grunt. "But I want the same thing as you. You want power, and that's why you attacked this Dex Holder to take her place. I want power too. That's why I'm defecting to ShadowNet. They'll treat me very well, given what I just offered them."

"And… what… are you offering?"

"This Dex Holder, of course!" the ex-Rocket grunt yelled as he lifted the unconscious Platinum off the ground and wrapped an arm around her throat. "I must thank you for knocking her out for me." The heiress's blood dripped onto his arm. "You could have done it a little cleaner, but oh well. You can rest in peace now, _my friend_. Have consolation in the fact that you would have done the same thing."

The other Rocket grunts battled the ShadowNet grunts while slowly retreating. There were way too many enemies at the moment, and given what just happened to Platinum, they wouldn't be able to fight properly. The best thing they could do was to retreat to Goldenrod City and tell Red what happened.

…

Pallet Town…

…

Blue walked up towards Green while rubbing her sore arm with an ice pack. The Viridian Gym Leader was currently working on the communications device along with Crystal, Emerald, Pearl, Daisy, Bill, Professor Oak, and Professor Elm. All of the others were scattered around the lab, leaving only Green and Blue in the room.

"You know, Green," the Kanto girl started. "I want to thank you again for saving me. So… thank you."

"Don't mention it," Green said distractedly.

Blue pulled up a chair beside the Gym Leader's and sat down. She leaned against him and rested her head against his shoulder. "I knew I could count on you to save me. I hope you'll continue to look out for me."

"Sure." Green turned his attention away from the computer screen and looked at Blue. "How's the arm?"

"It hurts, but I'll be fine. It could have been a lot worse, considering how far I fell." Blue put the ice pack down. "But I need to ask. How did you save me without breaking my arm?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I was in freefall for quite a bit. When you grabbed me, I should've broken my arm from the momentum of the fall."

"I had Charizard swoop down to catch you. The moment I grabbed your arm, it slowed down its descent. But all that occurred in a span of a couple of seconds, which is why your arm is strained."

Blue smiled. "Thank you Green. If Red was to save me, I'm sure I'd have a dislocated shoulder." She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "I guess I'll leave you alone with your work. Call me if you need me."

Blue left the room and called someone on her Pokégear.

"What is it?" came Sabrina's emotionless voice a few seconds later.

"How are things on your end?"

"I sent every Rocket member involved in the fight in Route 1 to New Bark Town. They'll hold that town and slowly proceed into Johto when they're ready. Anything else?"

"Can't you read my mind?"

"Not from this distance, no."

"Huh… where are you?"

"Back in my city."

Blue thought for a second. "So… I was going to ask why you weren't using your super psychic powers to find out where the ShadowNet forces are, but I guess you can't sense them from too far away."

"Yes. I can read and detect anyone's mind and communicate with them if they are close, preferably in the same city. I can only do so with people I know if they are in the adjacent city. But that is difficult and I can only maintain it for a limited time. Now, from this point on, contact Surge instead if you need to contact me. I'll be monitoring Kanto one city at a time with my Alakazam, and it requires total concentration."

Without warning, Sabrina hung up. Blue grumbled as she put her Pokégear away.

"Fine, be that way, you flat, cold-hearted bit-" Blue held her tongue in mid-syllable. '_Oh wait, she can't hear me from all the way in Saffron…_' Blue grinned. "-ch. There, I said it, and there's nothing you can do about it." _'I hope, anyways…_'

…

Celadon City Hospital, 1:30 pm…

…

Crystal arrived at the hospital and returned her Xatu. The moment she entered, she could see Silver standing in the corner with his arms crossed. Silver saw her and approached her. He could see that she was wearing some sort of a headset…

"Sorry, I'm late, Silver. I had to complete the communications device first. It's working perfectly, though." Crystal reached into her pocket and handed Silver a headset. "Here. It's yours."

Silver took it and put it on. "Thanks."

"Oh, Silver, why aren't you in the hospital room with the two you saved?" Crystal asked.

"Because that's the same as me being in the same room as you and Gold and _no one else_."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"… Did I just say that out loud? Never mind."

The two Johto Dex Holders went up to the room with the two teens that Silver had saved earlier. Crystal knocked on the door before opening it, and she could see that the boy had woken up and the girl was holding his hand. Crystal turned to glare at Silver.

"Did you imply something between me and Gold?"

"Blame sis," Silver replied, avoiding eye contact. "Anyways, I need to go."

Crystal was about to say something, but Silver had already left. With a sigh, the Johto girl entered the hospital room where the two rescued teens were waiting.

"Hi, I'm Crystal, Crys for short. I'm one of the Johto Dex Holders," she said to the two teens. She showed them her Pokédex (version VI) as a way to prove her identity.

The two teens bowed in return. "I'm White," said the girl. "And he's Black. We're from the region of Unova."

"So, Black, how are you doing?" Crystal asked. "I heard from Silver that you took several attacks to the head."

"Yes, but the doctors say that I'll be perfectly fine."

"What about you, White?"

"I'll be just fine. I wasn't that hurt to begin with, so…"

"So Black, I heard from Silver that you had the Pokédex version VII. Can you tell me how exactly you got it?" Crystal asked.

"Sure. I was supposed to-"

Black was interrupted by a loud audio crackle from Crystal's headset. The Johto girl winced and groaned as she reached up to her ears.

"Ow… ugh… Lower the volume…" she said into the microphone.

"Crys! This isn't the time for that!" came Blue's alarmed voice. The volume was lowered, though.

"What's the matter?" Crystal asked. She had never heard her senior sound so… distressed before.

"Um… Oh, how did this happen? … Just come back to Pallet Town _right now_!"

"What? Why? What's wrong?"

"Platinum's been captured by ShadowNet! Apparently two Rocket grunts betrayed her. According to the other grunts who escaped to Goldenrod, she's _really_ hurt!"

"Oh no! I'll get there as fast as I can!"

"What's wrong?" White asked.

"A junior Dex Holder was fighting the enemy, and it seems that some of her allies betrayed her and she got captured. I need to get to Pallet Town right now so we know what we should do."

"Is there anything we can do?" Black asked. "If the bastards that attacked us are the same enemies you're talking about, then I'd like a piece of them."

Crystal hastily prepared to leave. "Listen. I need to go right now, so if you want to help, then come to Pallet Town. Find Professor Oak's lab and you'll either find the professor, or one of the other Dex Holders. Show them your Pokédex and they'll tell you what you can do."

Crystal hastily ran out of the hospital room and the moment she exited the hospital, sent out her Xatu. Inside the hospital, Black rolled off of the bed.

"Black, what are you doing?" White asked.

"I'm not going to stand around and do nothing while they're fighting the bad guys," he replied. "I'm going too."

"But you're still hurt. You shouldn't do anything physically straining."

"Miss President, haven't you heard that a trainer needs to train himself as much as his Pokémon? As long as I'm not crippled, I won't have any problems fighting." Black looked at White and smiled. "Besides, didn't we come here to learn from the other Dex Holders? If we help them fight the enemy, we can learn something while fighting with them _and_ they'll be happy to help us in return."

White still looked very worried. "Okay, if you put it that way… But you have to be very careful."

"Don't worry, Miss President. We'll be fine." Black looked through the window and noticed that Crystal had already left. "Uh… Miss President, do you know where Pallet Town is?"

"I… have no idea, actually," White said after a moment of thought. "I knew I forgot something… I forgot to bring a map! This is what happens if we're not fully prepared."

…

Pallet Town, 2 pm…

…

Crystal landed on the ground and immediately sprinted towards the lab. The moment she entered, she could see Diamond panicking as he paced around and Pearl trying to calm him down despite appearing equally devastated. She looked around and noticed that the entire Red team, Yellow, Silver, and Ruby were not present. Crystal could see Blue talking to someone on her headset in the corner, so she turned on her own headset and tried to hear the conversation.

"Damn it, Blue! Why are you trying to stop me?" came Red's angry voice.

"You don't even know if Platinum's still in Violet City! You can't just go charging in there!" Blue argued. "And listen, if you do anything reckless, ShadowNet might kill her!"

"They'll kill her if I _don't_ go and save her!"

"Look, Red! Platinum might be dead already," Blue said in an attempt to calm her friend. Diamond and Pearl froze as they turned to look at her. "If ShadowNet already killed Platinum-"

Diamond put his hands to his temples and shook his head. "No, no, no… There's no way…"

Blue looked at him with a sympathetic expression before she returned her focus to her conversation with Red. "If she's dead, then there's no point in you going to Violet City. But if she survived and escaped, the very first place she's going to go is Goldenrod City to find you. And if you're not there, who knows what's going to happen. And if ShadowNet has Platinum hostage, they'll definitely kill her if you do anything. But if they do have her, then that means they want something and therefore won't kill her until they get it."

"So what do you want us to do?" Red asked after a sigh. "And what are you going to do?"

"I want you to stay in Goldenrod. Have Sapphire go to Azalea Town, and move Gold to Ecruteak. I'm going to Violet City."

"And what are you planning to do?"

Blue closed her eyes and let out a long sigh as she thought about the amount of pain she was going to have to go through. "I'm… going to get captured."

Green looked surprised. Blue saw him and flashed him a rather bitter smile.

"… Did I hear that right?" Red asked.

"Yes, you did," Blue replied. "It's the safest and the fastest way of getting to Platinum. With any luck, ShadowNet will take me to where Platinum is and I'll be able to save her. Even if they don't, I can get _some_ information and find out where they're keeping her. Then I can try all over again, closer to where she is."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I'll be fine, Red. Just don't tell Silver."

Blue ended the conversation and took a deep breath. Green cleared his throat.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"So do I…" the Kanto girl murmured. She turned to look at all the other Dex Holders gathered. "Okay… so this is what we're going to do. Green, you'll have to drop me off in Violet City. Everyone else… just follow Green's orders. Just don't tell Silver about what I'm doing. Let him do what I told him to do."

"Please find and rescue the Lady," Diamond said. "If she's really hurt…"

Blue nodded. She felt really bad for him, as she had never seen him so devastated. "Don't worry too much. I'm sure she'll be just fine."

Green led Blue out of the lab after giving orders to the other Dex Holders. Once outside, the Gym Leader turned to face her.

"Now, you're sure about this?"

"No, but it's worth an attempt."

Green sighed and thought for a few seconds. "So… let's say that you do manage to find Platinum, _and_ escape. What then? I assume you're not going to be taking your Pokémon, headset, or a Pokégear."

"Well, if I do find Platinum and save her, then I'll be able to use her Pokégear. Don't worry too much about me, although I do appreciate your visible concern."

Green sent out his Charizard and the two Kanto Dex Holders headed towards Johto. Green had his Charizard avoid flying over the Johto towns and routes in order to avoid the ShadowNet forces. As a result, the two Dex Holders arrived near Violet City almost an hour after leaving Pallet Town.

From the air, Blue looked through her Silph Scope to find a suitable landing zone. The only suitable opening in the ShadowNet forces residing in the area was around a 10-minute walking distance into Route 36 from Violet City. Upon landing, Blue hopped off.

"Hurry and get out of here," she said to Green. "ShadowNet forces will probably get here within 5 minutes."

Green got his Charizard to prepare for takeoff. "Try to find Platinum and escape as fast as possible," he said to Blue. "Once again, we all need you here."

Blue nodded and handed the Gym Leader her bag, her headset, and all of her Pokémon so that she wasn't carrying anything. "Well… wish me luck. I'm probably going to need it."

Green reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Good luck, Blue."

The Charizard soon lifted off and headed straight south to avoid the incoming ShadowNet forces. Green looked down and he could see ShadowNet aerial forces heading towards Ecruteak City via Route 36. Because he was so far away, he couldn't see exactly what was happening, but he could see the leading ShadowNet Pokémon starting to circle around something.

Green took Blue's Silph Scope out of her bag and looked through it. He could see that the ShadowNet Pokémon were circling Blue and attacking her from all sides. Green immediately considered in saving her from the attacks, but forced himself to continue to Pallet Town. Just as he was about to look away, he saw Blue take a Brave Bird from behind. The girl collapsed forward and stopped moving even as the surrounding Flying types bombarded her with more Wing Attacks and Aerial Aces.

Green closed his eyes and put the Silph Scope away. "Shit… Blue, I seriously hope you know what you're doing…"

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: Sir, what should we do with the Dex Holder prisoner? Should we test the latest version of Project 05-032 on her?

L: No. We already have another prisoner for that in Goldenrod. Besides, the project has been completed. Take this prisoner to a different base. We'll hold her for ransom. She's from an incredibly rich family. I'm sure they'll pay ridiculous amounts for her return. Make sure she doesn't die until we get the ransom money.

D: But… we have absolutely no way to establishing contact with her family in Sinnoh.

L: In that case, send some of the best members of our team over there, but discreetly. I'll tell them the details of their task once they get there.

D: Yes sir. … Oh, it seems that we have captured another Dex Holder.

L: Who?

D: Uh… she's one of the oldest Dex Holders. We believe her name is Blue.

L: Is she the one with brown hair and blue eyes?

D: Given the reports, yes.

L: …

D: Sir?

L: Get as much information as you can from her. Do whatever it takes. Once she talks, kill her.

D: We're not going to hold her hostage? Having her captive may prove to be useful.

L: I don't care. Get her to talk, no matter what it takes, then kill her. That's an order.

D: Yes sir.

L: Feel free to make the interrogation as harsh and painful as possible. I don't care if she dies from the interrogation. And make sure that the other captured Dex Holder watches.

D: Yes sir. Sir, why do you hate this Blue so much?

L: I have my reasons.

D: According to the reports, the one called Blue is currently unconscious but otherwise fine. But it seems that the younger Dex Holder will die within the hour unless we do something.

L: Then have some of our medics to give her a basic treatment for her injuries. Not hospital-quality, but enough that she won't die.

* * *

><p><strong>For the first time in SA, a Dex Holder appears on the KIAMIA list! … That's not a good thing, but it does mean that the story pace is accelerating…**

**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: Blue, Platinum Berlitz.**

**There may be some who say that I'm bullying Platinum (and Blue to a degree). Well… yes. Every (or just about every) story that involves violence needs someone broken. In Pokémon Special, there are… Blue in FRLG arc, Crystal in mid GSC, Platinum in early DP (not necessarily broken, but **_**constantly**_** attacked), and White in mid BW. In my case, someone being broken means that he/she is in the main focus of the story for an extended period of time (although there are still plenty of others who are in main focus without sh*t happening to them). For Platinum, this is because the original SA was supposed to be centered on her. Consider Yellow in SA. Nothing bad happened to her at all, and she barely appears. Majority of the main characters need to pick somewhere between personal well being and SA "screen time".**

**Once again. Read, Review, Read news, Repeat.**


	18. Walk It Off

**The current poll has secret SA effects. But they're related to the Sinnoh trio, hence the poll question. I won't make a poll that asks about the Sinnoh trio and have the result of that affecting the Johto trio. All you know about the poll is that it asks you who your favorite 4****th**** Generation Dex Holder is, and that it somehow affects one of them. Is it good? Is it bad? Who knows (except me)? The effect will be explained after it's put into effect. Again, that could've been worded better.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 17: Walk It Off<p>

August 14th, 3 pm, ShadowNet base in unknown city…

'… _Where… where am I?_'

"Hey! Wake up!"

'… _Ungh… what… what happened?_'

"I said wake up!"

Platinum woke up when someone poured a bucket of ice water on her. She slowly opened her eyes and tried to wipe the water off of her face. Realizing that she was unable to, she looked at her arms and noticed that they had been tied together behind her. She was sitting on a chair, it seemed, and her feet were tied to the chair legs. She was tied to the chair, and the rope binding her was wrapped over the wound on her stomach, so every attempt to escape only caused pain. As a result, the heiress remained sitting and tried to calm herself. Nothing good was going to come out of panicking, after all.

Platinum looked straight ahead and could see one of the Rocket grunts who had betrayed her. He was wearing the ShadowNet uniform, and his friend was nowhere to be seen.

"You…" the heiress muttered. "Where is your friend?"

"Dead," the ShadowNet grunt replied. "Thanks to me, anyways. You see, he would've killed you and then taken your place. He probably would've told Red that you've betrayed him or something. But my idea was much better. I give you over to ShadowNet, and they give me what I want. Of course, since I know where your teammates have been deployed, I can trade that information for promotions now."

"Disloyal beast," Platinum said through clenched teeth. "You better release me or senior Red will come to save me."

The ShadowNet grunt laughed. "That's not going to happen. You see, Red already knows that you've been captured. Your Rocket friends probably told him that, as quite a few escaped to Goldenrod when you were captured. If he was going to try to save you, then he would be here by now, blasting everything with his teammates. But as you can see, it's perfectly quiet here."

Platinum glanced around and noticed that the ShadowNet base showed absolutely no signs of being under attack. She instantly felt severe disappointment and despair, but forced herself to remain calm.

"No. Senior Red will definitely come to save me. I – I know he will!"

"Believe whatever you want," the ShadowNet grunt replied. "But the truth is the truth. You've been abandoned. The sooner you understand that, the better." The door opened behind him and more ShadowNet grunts appeared. "Well, since I got what I wanted from you, I'll leave you alone. But I don't think my new allies will. But that's between you and them. Good bye."

Platinum watched the first ShadowNet grunt walk away and a group of three more entered the room. They surrounded her and didn't look as friendly as the grunt that betrayed her.

"What do you want?" Platinum asked. She tried to appear calm and collected, but her voice was shaking.

The three ShadowNet grunts didn't reply. But their intentions became clear when one of them struck the heiress across the cheek. They wanted information. It seemed that the traitor didn't tell them anything so far, so they were going to torture the information out of her…

Platinum closed her eyes. She wasn't going to tell her captors anything. She firmly held on to the belief that Red would come to save her. If not him, then surely Diamond and Pearl would, assuming they found out about her. Surely _someone_ would come… But until then, the ShadowNet grunts continued the interrogation. They struck Platinum across the cheeks, kicked her knees, and punched her shoulders. They weren't really torturing her because of her condition. After all, she had to remain conscious if she was going to tell them anything. The painful, yet non-serious attacks continued, and the heiress found it harder and harder to withstand them.

The ShadowNet grunts kept asking questions, but Platinum ignored them. They kept hitting her, but she remained silent. The grunts continued for a while until one of them lost patience and punched her in the stomach. The pain immediately knocked her unconscious and the ShadowNet grunts had no choice but to leave her alone for the time being.

Platinum woke up again when someone poured another bucket of ice cold water on her. She slowly opened her eyes and could see that another group of ShadowNet grunts were standing in front of her. Realizing that they were going to hurt her again, she groaned and closed her eyes.

Unfortunately, the heiress found that the process was repeating. The ShadowNet grunts would hurt her for half an hour, leave her alone for the next, and hurt her again for the next half hour. At the end of each 'wave', one ShadowNet grunt would always lose patience and hit her wounds. After five hours of this, Platinum could taste blood in her mouth, found it very difficult to breathe, and even passed out every now and then. ShadowNet must've given her some medical treatment when she was first captured (as she didn't die of blood loss yet), but it seemed that they were slowly undoing the help.

Through all the pain she had to go through, Platinum held on to the belief that Red would come to save her. She believed that _someone_ would come… But no one came. Surely it wouldn't have taken this long for her seniors to find her and mount a rescue… The heiress began to believe that her seniors have indeed abandoned her, and the emotional pain it caused was more than enough to make her forget about the physical torture.

Platinum woke up again when she heard a loud scream coming from the outside. It sounded as if someone else was being tortured. Obviously, the one being tortured was bound to be her ally, but the heiress was glad that she wasn't the one being tortured.

'_At least… at least they are not hurting me anymore…_' Platinum thought as she looked at the wall-mounted clock. It had been over an hour since the last ShadowNet group came to hurt her. Relieved that ShadowNet was torturing someone else, Platinum closed her eyes and tried to get some rest. There was nothing else to do, after all. She couldn't attempt an escape, as she could barely move. She simply accepted her fate that she would remain a ShadowNet captive for the remainder of her life, however short that may be.

Platinum woke up from her sleep when she heard ShadowNet grunts talking to each other around her. She pretended to be unconscious and listened carefully to what they were saying. She hoped that they weren't going to hurt her…

"Why did this take so long?" one grunt asked.

"Because this one escaped 3 fucking times and we had to catch her again," another replied. "But don't worry. We made sure she won't escape again. If she can move after 3 hours of continuous torture, then I guess she deserves to be free."

"Whatever. Wake both of them up and let's get this moving. We don't have much time. Our main forces were destroyed and scattered an hour ago."

"What? How did that happen?"

"You know that narrow three-way section in Route 36? Our main force was moving through there to get to Olivine and those Dex Holders, Team Rocket, the Johto Gym Leaders and Elite Four were waiting for us there! Our ground forces couldn't do anything because the path was too narrow, and the aerial forces couldn't do anything either because those damn Dex Holders and their allies attacked from the forest!"

"Oh."

"Yeah… Anyways, let's hurry this up. We have orders from above to kill this one, and use the other one to get ransom money after getting information."

Platinum opened her eyes and pretended to have just woken up when the ShadowNet grunts poured yet another bucket of ice cold water on her. Thanks to them, she was now freezing along with being thirsty, hungry, hurt, and tired. But all of them seemed to have vanished the moment she saw who was lying on the floor in front of her.

Blue was lying face down on the floor, looking horribly beaten. Her arms and feet were tied together with giant steel chains that were locked down tight so that she had no chance of escaping again.

'_Senior Blue? Oh no… so ShadowNet was talking about her? 3 hours of continuous torture and the orders to kill her?_'

The ShadowNet grunts kicked Blue in the ribs after pouring a bucket of water on her. The Kanto girl groaned as she was brought so rudely back into consciousness. One ShadowNet grunt reached down and pulled her by her hair so that Platinum may look at her senior's face.

"Surely one of you will start talking," he said with a grin.

"… Platinum!" Blue yelled out. "Don't you say anything!"

The other ShadowNet grunt pressed a button on a wall-mounted machine. The floor opened up and a giant water tank (and a set of stairs that reached to it) was raised from the gap. The two ShadowNet grunts then forced Blue up to her feet. Platinum could only watch as the two ShadowNet grunts dragged her senior over to the tank and simply shoved her in. But Blue simply swam up to the surface and managed to keep her head above the water.

One of the ShadowNet grunts went back to the wall-mounted machine and pressed another button. The water tank began to close thanks to an automatic lid. The tank was overflowing, so when the lid shut, there was no air for Blue to breathe. The ShadowNet grunts looked at Platinum, expecting her to say something, but the heiress didn't say anything still.

The two ShadowNet grunts stood beside the water tank and watched as Blue struggled in the tank. It took over a minute, but it seemed that she finally couldn't take it anymore. Platinum watched in horror as her senior twitched and stopped moving entirely. The Kanto girl's body floated to the top of the tank, but because of the lid, she was still submerged.

"Senior…" Platinum muttered as tears fell from her eyes. She closed her eyes and silently sobbed. She couldn't believe her senior just died…

"Well, I think my job's done. She drowned, we learned nothing from her, so… it's your job now," said one of the ShadowNet grunts to the other as he walked towards the exit. "I got some other work to do, anyways."

The remaining ShadowNet grunt watched Blue's motionless body for a minute before he opened the lid. He climbed the set of stairs near the water tank and proceeded to check whether Blue was actually dead. But the moment he reached down to check her pulse, Blue somehow grabbed his hand and dragged him into the water. She wrapped an arm around his neck and began to choke him underwater. Once the ShadowNet grunt stopped flailing, Blue resurfaced and coughed and gasped for air. She reached down to her ankles and picked the lock tying the chains together. Once she was free, she climbed out of the water tank and landed on the floor. But because she was weakened from the continuous torture, she couldn't maintain balance and collapsed.

Platinum opened her eyes and saw her senior getting back to her feet. "Senior?"

"Hi, Platinum," Blue said rather weakly. "I came to get you out."

"But… how did you…"

"Oh, that was easy," Blue said with a smile. "I only pretended to drown so I could pick the locks without them looking. See, I always keep a pair of paper clips underneath my wristbands. It doesn't hurt to be prepared. I had to use one on one of the previous escape attempts, so good thing I kept two." Blue suddenly groaned as her body started to ache from the torture. "… This would've been a lot easier if it wasn't for those electric tortures… I didn't think they hated me _that_ much…"

Blue reached down and began untying the ropes that bound Platinum to her chair. As she did so, she noticed the poorly bandaged wound on her right forearm. Blue examined her junior's injuries as she finished untying the ropes.

'_Big bleeding stab wound on the forearm, bleeding gash on the stomach, swollen cheeks, bruised shoulders, slightly swollen knees… Wow… she went through a lot more than I expected…_'

"Senior," Platinum said between breaths. She was starting to cry and combined with her difficulties breathing, it was making it nearly impossible for her to talk continuously. "Is… is it true?"

"Huh? What is?"

"Did… did senior Red… abandon me?"

Blue froze. She looked at her junior's eyes and could see that she was _really_ hurt inside. The Kanto girl had thought that the first thing she needed to do was get Platinum to the infirmary, but she needed to change priorities. She knelt down in front of Platinum and gently put her hands on the heiress's shoulders.

"Of course not. You have no idea how hard I had to try to stop him from coming to save you. I only stopped him because I figured that ShadowNet would kill you if he did anything reckless. That's why I came here. I purposely got captured so I could save you from the inside."

"H – How can I… trust you?" Platinum sobbed out. "I – I have been… sitting here… for over nine hours. ShadowNet… kept hurting me… and n – no one… tried to save me…"

"Well, I came for you. Come on, Platinum. Think reasonably. You're always calm and rational. Listen, you didn't do anything to get on Red's bad side. I've known him for ten years now. He'll never abandon his friends or allies. And besides, we didn't even know where ShadowNet took you. I only managed to find you because they took me to the same place where they were holding you." Blue glanced at the open door. "Platinum, I want you to try to calm down, okay? Once you're calm, let me know when you're ready to get out of here."

The Kanto girl rose to her feet and quietly walked towards the door. She quickly shut it and locked it from the inside. She then headed towards the water tank and dragged the unconscious ShadowNet grunt out. After tying his arms and legs together, she slapped him until he woke up. There were some questions he needed to answer…

"What… where…" the grunt mumbled as he took a look around.

"Good. Now that you're awake, you need to start talking," Blue said.

"How did you get free?" the grunt asked.

"I'll ask the questions!" Blue snapped at him. "Where did you put Platinum's stuff?"

"They're in the commander's office! In the third floor!"

"Okay. Where are we? What floor and what city?"

"Basement, Azalea Town."

"How many guys do you have in this building?"

"Around 10 per floor."

"Okay. Last question. Where are the medical supplies? I need the closest one."

"Uh… check the washroom a bit down the hall. The infirmary's further down the hall."

"Thanks."

"You're… you're not going to kill me, are you?" the grunt asked.

"Only if I find out that you were lying," Blue replied. She delivered a swift kick to the side of the head, knocking the grunt out cold. She removed the set of keys on the grunt and walked over to Platinum and crouched in front of her. "Feeling better?"

"I – I apologize, senior," Platinum said quietly. "I have been told that… senior Red was not going to save me, and that… he… he wanted me to die…" She started to sob again and Blue once again had to calm her down.

"You know that's not true. He's worried sick about you. Whoever told you that was trying to separate you from him."

"That thought came to me as well, but… no one came…"

"I understand how you feel. You've been through quite a lot today. But trust me. _No one_ has abandoned you."

Platinum took a shuddering breath and steadily calmed down. "Thank you, senior… I… I think I am ready now."

"Great. Come on, let's get out of here so you can rest."

Blue helped her junior get to her feet. Platinum wasn't able to stay on her feet, however, so Blue had to support her from the left.

"Senior, where are we going first?"

"We're going to the washroom. I'll have to clean your wound and try to heal you a little before we escape."

The two girls opened the door and peeked outside. No one was outside, so they looked around to see where the washroom was. They could see it several doors across to the right and were about to get to it when someone appeared from around the corner. The two girls hid and listened carefully.

The grunt walked towards the men's washroom and tried to open it. It was locked, so he knocked on the door.

"Hey, open up!" he yelled.

"Password, please," came the reply from the inside.

"You've got to be kidding me! What password?"

"The password so we don't open the door for girls."

"Do I sound like a girl to you?"

"Well, you could be held prisoner by girls."

"… If I was held prisoner by girls and knew the password, then the girls could just force me to tell you the password, and you'd open the door for them."

"… Okay, well now I'm definitely not going to open the door."

"But I really need to go!"

"Well why don't you ask your girl buddies, then?"

The ShadowNet grunt kept knocking for half a minute but the door still didn't open. As he had no choice, he went into the women's washroom right beside while grumbling. Blue peeked out of the room just in time to see him.

"Great… now we can't go into the washroom. We'll have to go to the infirmary." She looked left and right and saw no one around. She turned to look at Platinum, who kept her good arm around her bleeding wound. "We should go now."

Blue supported her junior from the left once again. The two girls quickly left the room and after shutting the door, headed towards the infirmary on the other end of the hallway. Platinum couldn't (and shouldn't) move quickly, but she clenched her teeth and forced herself to keep up with Blue.

Upon arriving at the infirmary, Platinum leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath. Blue took a worried glance at her before placing her ear on the door. She detected no movements inside, so she carefully opened the door. No one was inside, so she let Platinum enter and locked the door shut.

"Platinum, go lie on the bed," Blue ordered, pointing to the small elevated bed in the edge of the room.

The heiress struggled onto the bed and lay down. Blue took a towel from the cabinet and tossed it to her junior.

"Try to wipe some of the blood."

Platinum carefully took the towel and dabbed at the wound on her stomach. Blue glanced around and gathered the necessary medicine and bandages. The Kanto girl stood beside her junior and took a deep breath.

"Lift up your shirt a little."

Platinum lifted her vest a little and further opened the tear in her dress underneath. "How is it, senior?"

Blue removed the crudely wrapped bandages and upon seeing the open wound, looked away for a second. "Ugh… this is a lot more blood than I am comfortable with…" She took a clean towel and dabbed it in disinfectant. "This is going to hurt like hell," she warned Platinum. "Try not to scream…"

The heiress shut her eyes and braced herself. The process was messy (in Blue's perspective) and very painful, but Platinum managed to remain perfectly quiet. She had tears falling from her eyes at the end, but no sound was made. Once the disinfecting process was complete, Blue placed a medical patch over the gaping wound in order to stop the bleeding and quicken the healing. Afterwards, she wrapped new bandages over the patch to prevent it from falling off.

Blue sighed and looked at her junior's right forearm. She removed the crudely wrapped bandages and saw that the wound there wasn't any better than the one she had just taken care of. But once that wound was taken care of (twice, as the Scyther's blade had stabbed completely through the heiress's forearm), Blue sighed in relief and washed her hands.

Platinum carefully sat up and looked at her senior. To her surprise (and horror), the Kanto girl was holding a giant needle and was looking at her.

"Um… senior? What is that for?"

"Painkiller. For you."

"I – I do not think that is necessary," Platinum stammered.

"You sure?" Blue asked. Seeing her junior nod, she threw the needle away. "Alright then. Let's get going."

"Senior, what about you? You have been through 3 hours of continuous torture."

"Nah, I'll be fine. It's just electric torture. I've been zapped by Red's Pika a few times, and one unfortunate case of Zap Cannon from Green's Porygon2. And every single time, Green just tells me to walk it off."

"Oh…"

"Anyways, let's get moving."

The two girls left the infirmary and soon found the stairs. Though it was hard, Platinum did her best to keep up. She was feeling a lot better, thanks to Blue reassuring her and helping her heal in the infirmary. As a result, the heiress had little problems walking.

The two Dex Holders carefully ascended the stairs, being cautious of patrolling ShadowNet grunts. They weren't able to take the stairs all the way to the third floor because the security was getting tight. So instead, they headed towards the storage room, which was connected to the garage. The two girls hid behind a giant box in the large storage room and waited to see if there were any grunts around.

"Senior, how are we going to retrieve my belongings?" Platinum whispered.

"We're going to get out of this building through the garage or through the windows if there are too many ShadowNet grunts there. From there, I'll find a way to the commander's office. I'm not entirely sure yet." Blue suddenly pressed herself against the box. "Wait… I hear someone…"

Platinum focused on her hearing and could hear a ShadowNet grunt talking to another one.

"Hey Jim," he started.

"Yeah, what is it?" asked the other one, sounding as if he was on the opposite side of the storage room.

"You said there were eight crates in the delivery. But I only see seven."

"What do you mean, seven?"

"As in, one less than eight!"

"Well, the bill of lading said there were eight."

"Did you count?"

"Uh… well, not exactly."

"Not exactly? It's just not that hard to count _eight giant crates_!"

Blue was about to peek around the box when she heard a third and fourth voice from afar.

"Watch where you point that thing!"

"Relax. It's non-lethal."

"So? Have you ever been hit by one of those?"

"No."

"Well, Billy has. And I don't want to end up like him."

"What do you mean?"

"Look over there. … … … See? It made him stupid."

Platinum peeked around the box and looked at Blue. "Senior, what is going on?"

"I think ShadowNet's using an experimental weapon. I don't know for sure. Maybe the commander's office has some answers." Blue glanced around the box once more. "Alright. Everyone's far away from us, so let's keep moving."

The two girls quietly snuck around, hiding behind boxes and crates. The garage was packed with ShadowNet grunts, so they had to use the open windows to exit. It was currently 1 am, so there were only a couple of grunts patrolling around outside, so it wasn't hard to sneak through the windows without being spotted. Blue had to help Platinum climb through first before climbing herself.

The two Dex Holders made their way towards the rear of the building. There were no lights in the area, so they had little concern of being spotted. Blue peeked around the corner and could see another pair of ShadowNet grunts (one grunt and one with a different uniform) knocking on a door.

"Damn, another pair…" Blue muttered. She looked back at Platinum. "We'll have to wait a short while again."

"Hey, open up!" came the grunt's voice from around the corner.

"Password," came a slightly muffled voice, presumably from the grunt on the other side of the door.

"What?"

"Need the password!"

"You've got to be kidding me! What password?"

"Password! They gave it out at the staff meeting fifteen minutes ago!"

"Meeting? What meeting? I was out here!"

"Not supposed to let anyone in without it!"

"If the staff meeting just ended, no one outside is going to know the freaking password! Now open up! I need to drink something and the squad leader's out here!"

"… Does he know the password?"

"He wasn't at the meeting either!"

Blue waited until the ShadowNet grunt and squad leader _finally_ forced the other grunt to open the door. 10 seconds after the door closed, the Kanto girl peeked around and with Platinum, carefully moved on.

After another 10 minutes of walking/sneaking around, Platinum suddenly groaned as she stopped walking.

"Senior… I do not think I can go on," she said between breaths.

Blue looked at her junior worriedly as she helped her sit on the ground. The heiress leaned against the wall and tried to steady her breathing. The Kanto girl sighed.

"Well… we still don't know where the commander's office is, and no way of escaping here. It's not like I can leave you alone here, either. You need to get to the hospital as fast as possible, but…"

"Well? What else can I do?" came a voice from above.

Blue quickly crouched down and pressed herself against the wall. She looked around to see where the voice came from. There was an open window on the third floor of the building, so Blue quietly moved away from the wall so she could look into the room. There was a ShadowNet grunt standing in front of the window, yelling at another grunt who was further inside the room. The Kanto girl couldn't hear the second grunt, but she could hear the first one loud and clear.

"You told me to check if the commander left the air conditioning on in his office; I kind of actually have to _enter_ the office! … … Of course I used the door code!"

'_Door code?_' Blue thought. '_They have door codes? Damn… how am I supposed to find Platinum's stuff if they have door codes? The doors on the basement didn't need codes…_'

"… Of course!" the ShadowNet grunt yelled, continuing his (quite helpful) rant. "… … What do you mean, "not secure"? _No one_ is listening! You are paranoid! … … What? Do not say the door code? 3490! 3490, 3490! 3490! There, I said it! I said the code! What are you going to do about it? … … Oh, oh, oh, I'm _terrified_!"

Blue smiled as she looked at Platinum. "Well, it looks like we found where the commander's office is. Platinum, you stay here for a while. I'll be right back."

"Senior, do you intend to leave me here alone while you go back into the building?" the heiress whispered, fear evident in her expression. "You do not know how long it will take you to reach the office."

"Don't worry. You'll be able to see me," Blue said reassuringly.

Platinum appeared confused. "I apologize, but I do not understand."

"Watch."

Blue took a brief look around and approached a drainage pipe. She shook it and was relieved to know that it was attached firmly to the wall. Just like she did with the Rocket base the previous day, she began to climb the drainage pipe. Once she reached the third floor, she carefully moved onto the windowsill.

By the time Blue arrived at the open window, the grunts inside were already gone. The Kanto girl looked inside for a few seconds before climbing in. As half-expected, the room she was in was not the commander's office, but the commander's secretary's. The door to the commander's office was right beside the window. Blue entered the code that the ShadowNet grunt had so willingly given. The door opened and Blue quietly entered.

Inside the office, Blue quickly searched the area. She found Platinum's bag on the desk and looked inside. It appeared that no one had bothered to look through it yet, as everything was in very neat order. Platinum's Pokémon seemed very happy to see her. Blue searched through the documents on the desk and grabbed whatever she felt seemed important (which was all of them). She then searched through the shelves and drawers and soon spotted the ShadowNet commander's laptop.

With a grin, Blue took out Platinum's Pokéballs and Pokégear and stuffed the laptop and all the documents inside the bag. She quickly left the commander's office and sent out Platinum's Pokémon through the window to the ground below.

Platinum gasped in shock when her Pokémon appeared in front of her. With a bright smile, she tried to reach up to them. Her Pokémon quickly ran up to her and embraced her.

"Platinum!" Blue whispered from above. "Send your Lopunny up here!"

"Yes senior! Lopunny, please hop up to the window and assist senior Blue."

The Lopunny did as told and with one strong leap, landed softly on the windowsill. Blue gave it Platinum's bag and the Rabbit Pokémon took it and hopped back down. The heiress took it and found it very odd that it was so heavy, but she let it slide. She figured that Blue had put something in it, probably something that once belonged to the ShadowNet commander.

Blue landed on the ground near the drainage pipe a few minutes later and returned Platinum's Pokémon back into their Pokéballs. She gave them to Platinum and the heiress put them in her bag.

Blue called Green with Platinum's Pokégear.

"Hello?" came the Gym Leader's voice.

"Green!" Blue said happily. "It's great to hear from you again! Anyways, I found Platinum in Azalea Town, saved her, got a bunch of information from the ShadowNet commander's desk, and we're ready to go back to Pallet Town."

"Very well then. I'll be over there within an hour. Don't hang up; Crystal will be tracing this call."

"Alright." Blue looked over at Platinum. "Okay, Green is coming to get us. We can't really move anymore, so we'll just have to wait."

"I understand." Platinum let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much for coming for me, senior. I was right in believing that someone would come and rescue me…"

…

Pallet Town…

…

"Crystal, I want you to trace the location of Blue and Platinum right now," Green ordered. "I'll be on my way to Azalea Town."

Crystal stifled a yawn and forced herself to focus on her laptop. She received Green's Pokégear and connected it to her laptop. She glanced at the clock and looked at Green.

"It's 1:30 right now. It'll be near 3:30 when you return. Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine. Once you finish tracing, let me know exactly where they are, then go to sleep. You've done enough today."

"Okay… although technically, 'today' started only ninety minutes ago."

By the time Green arrived in Azalea Town, it was 2:30. ShadowNet patrols were dozing, making things much easier for the Gym Leader. With Blue's Silph Scope, he could see the two female Dex Holders sitting on the ground next to a big building.

Platinum had fallen asleep and Blue stayed awake to guard her. She was really tired as well, but if she slept too, then there would be no way of protecting herself and Platinum if they were to be spotted by ShadowNet. The only thing she could do was make sure that Platinum was warm in the ShadowNet Johto commander's coat (also stolen from the office).

Once Green's Charizard landed, Blue took the coat off and slung Platinum's bag across her shoulder. She had Green carefully lift the heiress onto the Charizard so that she would sleep safely between the two Kanto Dex Holders.

The two Kanto Dex Holders went to the hospital in Viridian City first so that they could drop off Platinum. Once the heiress was safely in the hospital, the two Kanto Dex Holders returned to Pallet Town. It was 4 in the morning, but they still had work to do, namely look over the stolen documents from the ShadowNet commander's office and search through the stolen laptop.

…

August 15, 9:30 am…

…

Blue looked up from the stolen document. The documents were all about ShadowNet's current research projects and she had learned a great deal about what the enemy was trying to make. The conversation she had overheard earlier was referring to a handheld weapon that fired Electro Ball shots. According to the documents, the weapon was in the testing stages, and was known to zap the user as well as the intended target. But the document she was holding was different. It was an order from the top of ShadowNet's command, the boss.

"Green, where's Silver?" Blue asked.

"He's on his way to Sinnoh's Solaceon Town," the Gym Leader replied. "With the fast ships provided by Lt. Surge, he should arrive at Canalave City in… 5 hours."

"Why's he going to Sinnoh?"

"We intercepted a radio call from the Johto HQ going to somewhere in Sinnoh. Professor Elm thinks that it's going to the center of Sinnoh, so either Hearthome City or Solaceon Town. My instincts told me that it would be Solaceon."

"Good. This sheet has the order for the Johto commander, and it implies a ShadowNet presence somewhere in Solaceon Town." Blue looked at the sheet again and froze. "Oh no… ShadowNet sent a large task force to… Seven Island!" Blue used her headset to get both Gold and Crystal. "Gold, Crys, I want you two to go over to Vermillion City right now and take the fastest ship to Seven Island. ShadowNet sent a task force there to do something, and I want you two to stop them!"

"Got it," came Gold's reply.

"Okay, we're on the way," came Crystal's.

"Ruby, go over to Violet City. ShadowNet's planning something there," Blue ordered. "Just see what it is they're up to, and stop them if you think it's urgent."

"Alright," Ruby said through his headset.

Blue looked over at Green. "Green, I think you should just order everyone from now on. I heard that you destroyed ShadowNet's main force while I was in captivity."

"That's true, yes. But right now, you and I both need to rest. We'll leave Red and Yellow in charge for now."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Don't worry. With Yellow beside him, Red won't do anything reckless." Green rose to his feet. "At any rate, I am going to sleep for a few hours. You should too. We'll let sis, Bill, and Professor Elm take a look at the ShadowNet laptop."

"I guess…"

On his way to his house, Green spotted Yellow talking to Emerald. Upon seeing the Gym Leader, the girl went up to greet him.

"Oh, Green, you look very tired," she said in a worried tone. "You should get some rest."

"I know. I'm going home for that," Green replied. "Blue will be resting too. You and Red will be in charge of everything for now."

"Eh? Me? Um… I don't know if I can…" Yellow stammered, but Green stopped her.

"You'll do fine." Green opened the lab's front door and stepped out. He looked at Yellow one last time before shutting the door. "Wake me, when you need me."

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: Sir, it seems that the two prisoner Dex Holders have escaped.

L: Damn it. I told you to kill Blue!

D: Well… we tried to get some information, but that failed. And we believed that she drowned during one of the attempts to interrogate the younger Dex Holder, but apparently she was faking it.

L: … Whatever. Project 05-032 is ready. Charge it up and activate it.

D: Yes sir. But it seems that the Johto commander's office has been ransacked, and several important documents and a laptop are missing. The Dex Holders may know what we're up to.

L: Send some of our best squads to patrol around from One Island to Three Island. Make sure _nothing_ gets to Seven Island. For that group we sent to Sinnoh, tell them to wait near Sandgem Town. I have a new mission for them.

D: Yes sir.

L: It's time we start eliminating Dex Holders one by one. The group going to Sinnoh will be able to get rid of one.

D: But… none of the Dex Holders are in Sinnoh.

L: You'll see.

…

/ / FRAGMENT 5/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED PRE-CATACLYSM]

S: He's activating it.

J: It's about time.

S: He won't succeed. The Dex Holders know of the project and its location. ShadowNet made one stupid mistake of building the stabilizer in the same structure as the signal amplifier. When the Dex Holders destroy the building, there will be nothing to stop the little project from going rampant.

J: So what do you want me to do?

S: Make sure our version doesn't need a stabilizer.

J: Fine. Whatever.

/ / FRAGMENT ENDS

* * *

><p><strong>As a reminder (or new piece of information, if I didn't say this before), L and D are created guys. They don't exist in Pokémon Special. S and J on the other hand…<strong>

**Yes, the scene of Blue breaking her restraints is rather different than the preview scene in SE. This is because the "kill Blue" order was decided **_**after**_** that preview scene. The kill order is the reason why Blue has to go for the more… risky escape method. As far as I know, the other two preview scenes will occur in SA exactly as they appeared in SE. Of course, that could change too.**

**In case you're confused about the "secret effect" of the poll, here are some of the possibilities. The question may be "Who is your favorite 4****th**** Generation Dex Holder?", but the hidden question could be anything from "Who should learn the Ultimate Move first? (good)" to "Who should die in SA? (clearly, BAD)". Pick carefully.**

**Also, if you've read SE since its early days (or have read all of SE), then I'm sure you can tell what the next chapter is going to be about.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been (no conditions):<p>

"Damn, another one," Blue muttered. She looked over at Platinum. "We'll have to wait a short while again."

"Hey, open up!" the ShadowNet grunt yelled.

"What's the password?" came the reply from the other side of the door.

"Password? Oh man… I forgot."

"Forgot… what?"

"I forgot the password."

"See, that was almost right. Uh, see, the password begins with 'I forgot', but ends differently. Uh, try again."

"No. I mean, I forgot the password."

"No, okay, see, you… you got it wrong again. See, you said the same thing as last time."

"I'm being serious; I don't know the password!"

"No, no, no, see, you changed the first part. See, that… that part was the right part. See, now you've got the whole thing wrong!"

"No! I forgot what the password is and I just need you to _open the door!_"

"Alright, come on, man! Now you're just guessing!"

* * *

><p><strong>Ahem. Over half of what ShadowNet grunts say in this chapter are quotes from various video games and such. If you know where they came from, good for you! … Wow, come to think of it, this chapter has a <strong>_**lot**_** of video game quotes…**


	19. The Oracle

Chapter 18: The Oracle

August 15th, 10 am, Pallet Town…

"Uh… excuse me."

Blue turned around and could see Diamond and Pearl looking at her. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering if you could give us a lift to Viridian City," Diamond replied. "I want to see if the Lady is okay."

Blue grinned. "Oh, I'm sure it's _really_ important for you. Ask Sapphire. She's probably going to see Platinum anyways, so she'll be glad to give you a ride."

"Wait, what do you mean, really important?" Pearl asked.

"You didn't know?" Blue asked. "Your little friend _likes_ Platinum. That's probably why he's so anxious to go see her."

"Really?" Pearl looked at Diamond and grinned. "Way to go, Dia! Marry a rich girl like Miss Lady and all your financial problems will be over!"

"You know that's not the reason why I like her," Diamond said with a sigh.

"Oh, how cute. So you really do like her," Blue said with a warm smile. "I'll help you get her. I don't think she knows that you like her, but… she'll know soon enough!"

Diamond looked rather embarrassed but soon bowed and walked away. He wasn't _quite_ ready to visit Platinum. He needed to do something first, and he was sure that the heiress would appreciate his fully prepared visit. Pearl followed him so that he could discuss how exactly the relaxed Dex Holder was going to tell Platinum. Once Diamond and Pearl had left, Blue reached for her headset and contacted Red.

"Red, where are you?"

"Right outside the lab. Why?"

"I need you to go visit Platinum in Viridian City hospital _now_."

"Well, okay. I was about to go there anyways. But what's the hurry?"

Blue sighed. "It's _really_ important that you go and talk to her."

"How important?"

"Let's just say that… if you don't go and talk to her soon, she'll lose faith in all of her seniors."

"Whoa… that's… quite important, I guess," Red muttered. "Alright. I'm going."

Blue shut off her headset and headed outside. She was going to rest, but first, she was going to go to Route 36. She had heard from ShadowNet grunts in Azalea Town, but she still wanted to see where and how Green destroyed the ShadowNet main attack force. Blue made sure that she had Ditto on her somewhere and with Wigglytuff, headed towards Johto.

Ten minutes later, someone knocked on the door to the lab and Emerald opened it. He could see a boy and a girl both taller than him (who's _not_ taller than him?) waiting on the doorsteps.

"Can I help you?" the Hoenn Dex Holder asked.

"Hi, there," said the girl nicely as she crouched down slightly so that she could stay at eye level with him. Emerald instantly recognized the girl's tone and posture. He saw Crystal use the same tone and posture when she was dealing with little kids at Earl's Academy… Completely oblivious to the fact that she had just pissed off the Hoenn Dex Holder, the girl continued. "Is this Professor Oak's laboratory?"

Emerald gritted his teeth as he reached for his Pokéballs. "Yes… and you just made the _worst_ mistake of your life…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" the girl asked.

"Miss President! Get ready for a battle!" yelled the boy beside her.

"Eh? But… why?" the girl asked. Before she knew it, there was a big green Pokémon looming over her. "Ah!"

The girl and the boy both reached for their Pokéballs but before the impromptu battle could occur, Yellow appeared from inside the lab.

"… What's going on here?"

…

A few minutes later, Viridian City hospital…

…

Platinum woke up from her short sleep and before opening her eyes, took a few moments to collect her thoughts. After ensuring that her rescue was not a dream and that she was perfectly safe, she ran a series of tests to see the conditions of her injuries. The heiress noticed that she only had minor difficulties breathing and felt significantly less pain upon touching the Scyther wound on her stomach. She could move her right hand slightly, but it still hurt. It appeared that she'll need several more days of treatment from the hospital before she would be able to exert any force with that hand.

"Hey, Platinum, are you awake?" came a voice from beside.

The heiress opened her eyes and turned to her right and could see Red looking at her. "… Senior Red?"

"Hey, so you are awake. That's good," said the Kanto champion with a smile. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Senior! I – I was right! You did not abandon me!" Platinum exclaimed happily.

"Abandon you? Now why would I do that?"

Platinum sat up straight and proceeded to tell her senior what she had been told since her task in Violet City. A few tears formed on her eyes when she told him about what she had to go through during her captivity.

"I am really glad that you do not hate me, senior," Platinum said as she wiped away the forming tears.

"You shouldn't believe what anybody else says in matters like this," Red said. "Trust your instincts. You know I wouldn't leave any teammate or friend behind."

"I did not believe any of it either, but when no one came to my aid…" Platinum shook her head and smiled brightly. "But all of that no longer matters. To answer your question, I am doing great. Though it is difficult for me to move my right hand, I am sure that that will change soon."

"That's good. I'd like you to recover quickly, but take your time and relax. I don't want you to hurt yourself again."

Platinum was about to ask what happened since her mission in Violet City when Red's headset emitted static noise. Red pressed a button on the headset and he could hear Yellow talking.

"Senior, is something wrong?" Platinum asked once the conversation was over.

"No, but I need to get back to Pallet Town," Red replied. "Apparently there's a new Dex Holder, and his friend too I guess, who visited Professor Oak's lab. Yellow wants me to come back so I can meet them."

"A new Dex Holder?" Platinum asked. "Do you mean that there is yet another Dex Holder after Diamond?"

"Yeah. I'll go talk to him and see what he's like." Red pulled out a new headset from the pocket of his jacket and placed it on the table beside Platinum's bed. "Here. This is yours. Crys sent a message containing the instructions to everyone, so check your Pokégear."

"Yes, senior. Thank you very much."

Once Red left, Platinum leaned back once again and took out her Pokégear. She didn't notice it before, but she did receive a message from Crystal. She took her headset and checked it over completely while reading over the instructions. She didn't want to use it at the moment as she didn't want to distract anyone, but she was sure that she understood exactly how to use it.

A few minutes later, as Platinum set her Pokégear and headset down on the table, someone knocked on the door and entered. The heiress looked and could see Sapphire and Pearl.

"Hey, rookie, how're you doing?" Sapphire asked. "Feeling okay?"

"Ah, senior Sapphire! Yes, I am doing great, thank you," Platinum replied with a short bow. She sat up straight and smiled brightly. "And Pearl too. Thank you very much for coming."

"Hi, Miss Lady. I'm glad to see you're okay," Pearl said. "I heard what happened, and I can tell you that stuff like that will never happen again."

"Thank you for your concern." Platinum glanced past her two visitors but saw no one else. "Where is Diamond? Is he on a mission?"

"No," Sapphire answered. "Dia's b-"

"Dia said that he couldn't see you without bringing a gift and he's getting it right now," Pearl quickly interrupted. "It's supposed to be a secret!" he whispered to Sapphire immediately afterwards.

"Right… sorry," Sapphire whispered back.

Platinum appeared slightly confused at them whispering, but soon decided that it was not her business. Instead, she asked them what was happening outside the hospital, a question that she tried to ask Red. Sapphire and Pearl tried their best to answer. The three talked for over an hour and Platinum no longer felt so alone and left out.

"Oh, senior Sapphire, have you heard?" Platinum asked abruptly. "Apparently there is a new Dex Holder after Diamond. I have heard that he is currently visiting Professor Oak's laboratory."

"Really?" Sapphire asked. "I didn't see him. I guess we left just before he arrived." A thought occurred and she suddenly looked a little… depressed. "So I guess this means that I have another junior? Why do I suddenly feel so old? I felt so young a week ago…"

"What do you mean, senior?" Platinum asked.

"A week ago, I was one of the _junior_ Dex Holders. Now? I don't know anymore…" Sapphire sighed again. "At least I'm not on the senior side yet. Anyways, rest up, rookie. I'm going to go meet my new junior."

"I guess I'll go too," Pearl said. "I want to see my one-and-only junior too. Finally, someone to boss around!"

"Oh, Pearl, before you go, I would appreciate it if you take this with you," Platinum said as she took out her notebook from her bag. "You have seen this once before. It contains all of the documented characteristics and history of all our seniors. I do believe that this will be invaluable for the new Dex Holder."

Platinum tossed her notebook and Pearl caught it. "Thanks, Miss Lady. Well, I'll see you later then."

The two visitors left Platinum's hospital room and immediately ran into Diamond in the hallway. The relaxed Dex Holder was carrying a large plate with a lid covering it, concealing the food contained.

"So, Dia, everything's ready?" Sapphire asked with a smile.

"Yes. I just hope she likes it," Diamond replied.

Pearl patted his friend on the shoulder. "Good luck, Dia. She's all yours."

Diamond took a nervous breath and opened the door. He could see Platinum on the bed and he could instantly tell that she was still hurting. Upon seeing him, the heiress gave him a bright smile.

"Hello, Diamond. I am glad you could come."

"Lady, are you okay?" Diamond asked. He looked very worried.

"Yes, I am getting better. Thank you for your concern."

Diamond sat beside her and set the plate on the empty spot on the bed. "I'm really sorry I wasn't there for you. But I promise that I'll always be there for you from now on. I won't let the enemy hurt you again."

Platinum smiled sheepishly. "Thank you, Diamond."

Diamond took a nervous breath. '_It's now or never…_' "Lady, I… need to tell you something."

Platinum appeared a little concerned. "What is it?"

"I… like you, Lady. I always have," Diamond said after another sigh.

"I like you too, Diamond," Platinum said with a warm smile.

"Really?" Diamond asked. His heart leapt with joy…

"Of course. We are friends, are we not? It is natural for two friends to like each other, no?"

… and crashed back to its original place. "… Right… of course." '_Well, that went well…_'

"Or did you mean something else?" Platinum asked.

"No," Diamond answered. He was afraid of trying again. He felt that he was sort of pushing his luck to begin with. In a desperate attempt to change the topic, he lifted his plate off of the bed. "Here, I made this for you," he said as he raised the lid, revealing a fantastic looking pie.

Platinum smiled again, but appeared a little troubled. "I highly appreciate it, but I do not think I can eat it. The doctors have warned me that I should only eat foods that have been approved by a doctor."

"I know. This pie has already been approved," Diamond said. "And I know you're going to like it. It's the same pie you ate during your Super Contest in Hearthome City." Platinum still appeared a little hesitant, so Diamond continued. "Lady, I know that you probably don't feel like eating anything, but I can assure you that this pie is good for you. Do you trust me?"

Platinum soon nodded. "Yes. I trust you."

Diamond took out a small plate, a fork, and a cutting knife from his bag and cut a slice of pie. He put the slice on the plate and gave it to Platinum and she took it with her good hand. But the problem soon occurred as the heiress was unable to hold the fork with her other hand. Diamond saw her struggle and instantly felt a pang of remorse. She looked so helpless… He set the large plate on the table behind his chair and took the fork and the small plate from Platinum.

"Here," Diamond said as he lifted a small portion of the pie with the fork.

Platinum looked away for a short while. She appeared embarrassed and even ashamed for having to be fed. "Sorry…" she muttered out.

"Don't mention it."

The heiress soon opened her mouth and accepted the piece of pie Diamond was offering. She smiled as she savored the flavor.

"Diamond, you are a wonderful cook," she said after swallowing. "The pie is very delicious."

"I'm glad you like it," Diamond said with a smile. He lifted another piece of the pie with the fork and Platinum was ready. For the first time since Platinum's departure for Violet City the previous day, Diamond felt happy. Sure his attempted confession failed miserably, but he was still glad that Platinum was safe and that she still considered him as a friend. That was good enough for now. Perhaps when he attempts a second confession, the heiress will understand what he means and feels the same way.

…

Route 36, Johto, 12 pm…

…

Blue woke up from her short sleep when her Wigglytuff landed on the ground. She stretched her tired limbs and hopped off. She returned her Ditto (seatbelt/blanket function) and Wigglytuff to their Pokéballs so they could get their deserved rest.

Blue was about to take a step forward when the status of Route 36 registered in her brain. The route was a mess. Many trees have been uprooted and utterly destroyed. It was evident that a chaotic battle had taken place here not long ago. She slowly proceeded to examine the area and see if she could figure out what exactly Green had done.

Before long, she came across the three-way section of the route where the majority of the battle against the ShadowNet ground forces had taken place. It seemed that the ShadowNet grunts were… slightly misinformed. She had heard that Green had all his allies attack from the trees, but that wasn't entirely accurate. Blue studied the area carefully. There was a huge section of torched trees and there was a new… river flowing nearby.

'_Green… what did you do here?_' Blue thought as she eyed the newly created river.

Soon, she nodded in understanding. She had a rough idea of what Green did to the route. As far as she could tell, Green had set fire to the forest to force the ShadowNet ground forces to move to an area and flooded the area by using the nearest river. The ShadowNet ground forces would have been wiped out completely from the sudden flood and the aerial forces wouldn't have been able to see because of the smoke from the forest fire.

"Wow…" Blue muttered. "So all those strategy books he reads during his spare time helped him after all… Maybe I should read those too…"

Blue figured that this was why Green was able to win against the bulk of the ShadowNet forces and yet wasn't tired at all. Sure, the environmentalists would be pissed because of all the burnt trees and Pokémon forced to evacuate, but clearly beating ShadowNet as easily as possible was a lot more important.

Blue looked across the new river and saw a perfectly green forest which wasn't affected at all by the fire and flooding. She assumed that that was where Green and his team stayed. Blue wanted to go over there to see what Green was seeing, so she approached the new river. She considered in simply crossing the river through the air (i.e. Wigglytuff) but decided against it. Her Wigglytuff was tired at the moment, and she needed it to rest up for the return flight to Pallet Town. And since she had forgotten to bring her Blastoise (half of her Pokémon were with her team members and Blue had forgotten to retrieve them), Blue had no choice but to cross the new river by herself.

The water wasn't that deep and wasn't running that fast either. It seemed that the water level had gone down since the initial flooding. Blue looked at the water and estimated that the deepest part would reach up to her thighs. She took a step into the water and noticed that it was… really cold. Damn…

The new river wasn't that wide across but given that she wasn't able to walk fast in water, Blue estimated that she would be able to finish crossing in 5 minutes. Halfway across the river, she could hear someone yelling from behind.

"You! Lass!"

Blue turned around and could see an old man appearing to be in his nineties looking at her. She pointed at herself, asking the old man if he was talking to her.

"Yes, you! There's no one else around here!" the old man yelled again. "Come over here!"

Blue didn't like the way the old man was yelling at her, but seeing how he was so much older, she had no choice but to remain polite. She headed towards the old man as fast as she could manage.

"How may I help?" Blue asked politely.

"How am I supposed to get to Ecruteak City when there's a new river here?" the old man demanded. The way he was talking, it gave Blue the impression that he was blaming her for the flooding. "You're going to help me cross."

"Oh… I do have a Ditto and a Wigglytuff that may help you cross," Blue said.

"Is that how you'd treat a senior? Just get your Pokémon to manhandle them? Shut your trap and carry me across!"

Blue clenched her teeth but complied nonetheless. She lifted the old man onto her back and started to walk again. The old man was a lot heavier than he appeared and he kept nudging her rather roughly on the back of the head with his walking staff. Blue briefly considered in simply dropping the old man in the middle of the water, but decided against it.

Eventually, Blue reached the other side of the water and carefully set the old man onto the ground when he said something utterly shocking.

"Damn it, I left my bag on the other side because I was so busy getting your slow mind's attention!"

Blue fought the urge to grit her teeth and instead, forced herself to think happy thoughts and appear as calm and polite as ever.

"I'll go and get it for you," she offered.

"So you intend on leaving me alone here, do you? How dare you. Just shut up and carry me again."

Blue had no choice but to carry the old man again and walk across the river once more. She clenched her teeth and tried her absolute best to avoid appearing upset. She figured that if she was to abandon the old man right now, then her previous help would have no meaning. But if she helped once again, then her help would have twice the meaning. This time, since Blue was carrying him across the river again without complaining, the old man didn't bother her at all.

Eventually, Blue finished crossing the river for the third time and set the old man on the ground again. She was absolutely exhausted and freezing due to exposure to cold water. The old man slowly walked towards the nearest tree and signaled Blue to follow. The Kanto girl did as told, glad that she wasn't ordered to cross the river again.

The old man sat down in the shade of the tree and looked at Blue.

"Sit and rest," he said. When Blue did as told, the old man spoke, oddly nicely this time. "So why did you carry me across the river the second time?"

"Um… I just believed that if I left, then my previous help would lose all meaning. But if I help the second time, then it would have twice the meaning," Blue answered honestly.

The old man nodded slowly and thought for a second. "What's your name and how old are you?"

"My name is Blue and I'm 21 years old," Blue answered.

"Hmm… so you're the one I was supposed to meet…" the old man muttered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You are one of the Pokédex Holders, right?"

"Yes. I am the third one."

The old man sighed. "I was hoping you weren't a Pokédex Holder… this is bad…" He reached into his bag and pulled out a Pokéball. Blue instantly reached into her bag and grabbed her Pokéballs, just in case. The old man sent out his Pokémon. "Do you know what Pokémon this is?"

Blue looked at the Pokémon, but she didn't recognize it. It appeared to be a Psychic type, though. "No, I don't think I've ever seen it before."

"It's called a Gothitelle. It's not native in Kanto or Johto. Or Hoenn or Sinnoh, for that matter. It's a Pokémon capable to looking at the stars' positions and movements to predict the future. It's also capable of seeing their trainers' life spans. But mine has a tendency of predicting other people's lives and not mine. I don't know why, but then again, I don't know want to know. Yesterday, it told me that I'll meet someone very famous today whose life is running short."

Blue looked very alarmed. "Do you mean that I'm going to die soon?"

The old man didn't answer her question. "It told me that the person I'd meet would be rather young despite the fame and very kindhearted. That's why I acted the way I did. I needed to make sure that I have the right person. Seeing you, I have no doubt. You are a Pokédex Holder. At 21, you are very young considering how famous you are. And even though I was being so rude and cruel, you still helped me across the river three times."

"Um… how do you know what your Gothitelle sees?" Blue asked. She was rather skeptical about what this old man was saying.

"I've been with it long enough to know roughly what it's thinking by looking at its actions," the old man replied. "But for things too complex for me to guess, it shows me what it's thinking through my dreams. Now, listen very carefully. What I'm about to tell you may save your life. Since you're a Pokédex Holder, you must live on." The old man cleared his throat and observed Blue's expression. The Kanto girl was listening intently, so he continued. "I don't know exactly when or where, as there are several uncertainties, but… beware of water. There will be a flood in a route somewhere within a couple of months and when that happens, you will die there."

Blue thought for a few seconds. "I mean no disrespect, but I hope you understand me being skeptical."

"I understand. Whether you heed my warning or not is up to you. I've done all I can by warning you ahead of time." The old man rose to his feet and Blue hastily rushed to help him. The old man looked at her and sighed again. "I really do hope that you don't die. This world needs all the help it can get from kindhearted trainers like you. But something tells me that your fate is… inevitable. Just be very careful."

The old man returned his Gothitelle and slowly walked towards Ecruteak City. Blue watched him until he disappeared from her sight before she sent out her Wigglytuff. Thanks to the advanced warning, Blue felt… uncomfortable around Route 36. The fact that she was in a route that was flooded made her very nervous… She needed to get the hell out of there.

"Let's get out of here, quick," Blue said to Wigglytuff as she hopped on. "And for a few months, let's stay away from routes close to water entirely."

…

A couple of hours later, near Two Island, 2:30 pm…

…

"Gold, what do you think ShadowNet's doing in Seven Island?" Crystal asked as she stared directly ahead.

The ship Lt. Surge has lent was indeed very fast, and because it was plowing through rough waves, it was shaking rather violently. And to avoid getting seasick, the two Johto Dex Holders decided to simply look straight ahead to where the ship was going.

"I don't know. But they're probably doing something," Gold replied. "What do you think, Super Serious Gal?"

"Well… I think either ShadowNet is planning on doing something with the Unown, or they're just looking for a new base site. I mean, Seven Island is basically the corner of the Sevii Islands. If they make a base there, it's not going to be attacked from all over the place like they would in the middle of Johto or Hoenn."

"Good point. But isn't Seven Island kind of small?"

"I don't know. I've never been there. Quite honestly, I don't know why Blue sent us here. I think Red and Green would do a lot better."

"Hey Crys," Gold said abruptly. "What's that?"

Crystal looked where Gold was pointing and she could see a small ship floating on the water directly ahead. It looked abandoned… The captain of their ship saw the abandoned vessel and soon stopped beside it. Several sailors on the ship rappelled down to the abandoned vessel and began to search it for survivors or hints of what may have happened. Crystal was about to move closer to the vessel to see it a little better when something caught her eye. Something close to the surface had just move from the vessel to the ship…

"Gold, I think I saw something move below our ship," Crystal said.

Gold looked at the abandoned vessel before he headed towards the interior of the ship. "Stay here, Crys. I'll go and take a look from the lower decks."

Crystal nodded and resumed her focus onto the abandoned vessel. The sailors were still searching, but there didn't seem to be anything unusual… Suddenly, there was an explosion from the inside of the ship that knocked Crystal off her feet. She quickly rose to her feet and ran to the interior of the ship, worried about Gold. The goggled boy had gone inside when the explosion occurred… it was entirely possible that he was caught in the explosion.

Crystal glanced around and noticed that the ship was starting to sink. It was shaking rather violently too… Crystal knew she had to find Gold quickly and get off the ship before it explodes or sinks completely.

As she ran down the hall to get to the stairs, something struck her hard from behind. Crystal hit the floor hard, but managed to roll onto her back and sent out her Hitmonchan. But she couldn't see anything… Crystal groaned and rose to her feet. Her shoulder was aching from the unknown attack. Another attack hit her from the side with enough force to slam her against the wall.

"Agh! Chanpeon, the attacks are coming from behind the walls!" Crystal gasped out as she forced herself up to her feet. "Ugh… it must be Ghost types… they're the only ones who can land physical strikes through walls…" She kept her guard up and scanned the area. The Ghost type wasn't actually showing itself, but it must be seeing her somehow… Crystal glanced down and noticed something. "What the…" She looked around and spotted the nearest light source. She then looked back down. Something was wrong with her shadow… it was way too big, given the position of the light source. "Chanpeon! Fire Punch at my shadow!"

The Hitmonchan did as told and with a floor cracking impact, knocked out the Ghost Pokémon (a Sableye) that was acting as the eyes of the attack. Crystal was about to give the next order when a large hand clamped around her mouth from behind. The Johto girl looked at it and noticed that it belonged to a Dusclops. She tried to remove the hand, but couldn't. The Hitmonchan saw her predicament but hesitated as its trainer was in danger. Crystal tried to order it to attack the Dusclops anyways, but failed as the Dusclops's hand was pressed firmly against her mouth. She felt a sharp pain in her lower back as she took a Shadow Punch.

Seeing Crystal hurt, the Hitmonchan really couldn't do anything. It kept its guard up but couldn't defend itself from incoming Shadow Punches from other Dusclops in the area. Before long, Crystal went limp from repeated Shadow Punches. The Hitmonchan looked in despair. Its trainer was hurt, it was unable to defend itself from the surrounding Dusclops, and no one was nearby to help. Or so it thought, anyways.

Suddenly, Gold appeared out of nowhere and stabbed the wall directly above Crystal's head with his billiard cue. Normally, it wouldn't have affected the Dusclops, but the goggled boy had seen Crystal's Hitmonchan being attacked by Ghost types and as such, prepared adequately. He simply heated up his billiard cue with his Typhlosion and then came to Crystal's rescue. The billiard cue itself may go through the Dusclops without harming it, but the lingering heat would still burn it.

As expected, the Dusclops dropped Crystal and Gold quickly snatched her away. He pulled his non-conducting superheated billiard cue out of the wall and in that instant, the Hitmonchan smashed through the wall with Fire Punch. Gold looked at Crystal's face and could see that the girl was barely conscious.

"Hey, Super Serious Gal! Snap out of it!" he yelled, but it didn't do anything. "Don't worry. I'll get you out. Just hang in there, okay?" Gold ordered Crystal's Hitmonchan to get back into its Pokéball before giving his Typhlosion the next instruction. "Explotaro, blast a hole through the wall!"

Gold embraced Crystal and covered her while the Typhlosion blasted a massive hole through the wall of the sinking ship with Flamethrower. Gold quickly returned the Volcano Pokémon back to its Pokéball and lifted Crystal onto his arms. He then ran through the giant hole so that he may escape the ship before it completely sinks or explodes. But just as he jumped off the ship and into the cold water, the ship exploded, and the shockwave instantly knocked him unconscious.

* * *

><p><strong>Current Dex Holder KIAMIA list: Gold, Crystal.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

(1 of 2):

No conditions.

"Hi, there," said the girl nicely as she crouched down slightly so that she could stay at eye level with him. Emerald instantly recognized the girl's tone and posture. He saw Crystal use the same tone and posture when she was dealing with little kids at Earl's Academy… Completely oblivious to the fact that she had just pissed off the Hoenn Dex Holder, the girl continued. "Is this Professor Oak's laboratory?"

"Yes," Emerald growled out through clenched teeth. He reached to his headset and contacted Crystal. "Number 7, Number 7, this is Number 10. Please respond, over."

"Um… Emerald? Why are you talking like that?" Crystal asked.

"I have two people here who are treating me like a little kid. Requesting permission to beat the hell out of them, over."

"Um… okay, I'll play along. Request _denied_, over."

"They're getting on my nerves. Please advise, over."

"Be advised from… … ah, screw it. Emerald, just go and get Blue or Yellow."

"Understood…" Emerald shut off his headset and looked into the lab. "Yellow! Can you come over here for a minute?"

…

(2 of 2):

Conditions:

Crystal does not leave for the mission on Seven Island yet.

Crystal and Sapphire are in the same room in Pallet Town when Black and White arrive.

…

Pallet Town, August 15, 11 am…

…

"Why do I suddenly feel so old?" Sapphire muttered. "I felt so young a week ago…"

Crystal sighed and patted her junior on the back. "I know how you feel. I felt the same before and after hearing about you and Ruby. I was one of the… _junior_ Dex Holders before I heard about you. And during the whole Battle Frontier incident, I realized that I was no longer one of the juniors, but I wasn't on the _senior_ side either. But then Platinum came along and changed all that… It's the same for you. You were one of the juniors, and now, you're in the transition phase from junior to senior. Enjoy it while it lasts."

"You sound like a tired old lady, Crystal," Sapphire commented.

Crystal sighed again. "There'll be a time when you sound the same… And could you stop making me feel old?"

"Got bad news for you, Crystal," Sapphire said with a grin. "You _are_ old."

"I'm only a year older than you!"

"I know, but… you're on the _senior_ side and I'm not! And you know something else? I probably won't be on the senior side for a long time."


	20. Nightfall

Chapter 19: Nightfall

August 15th, 8 pm, unknown location…

Crystal woke up from the constant waves crashing onto the shore beside her. She didn't know exactly what happened. She recalled being on a ship, heading towards Seven Island for a mission. Various Ghost type Pokémon attacked and… Crystal instantly snapped out of her trance.

'_Gold!_'

Quickly, she pushed herself off the ground, but collapsed back down. She couldn't breathe and ended up vomiting the water she swallowed. Shaking away the nausea, she desperately scanned the area. It was starting to get dark, but she could see Gold lying on the shore a few meters away. Crystal crawled over to him as fast as she could manage.

"Gold!" she yelled out, but received no response. She tried again. "Gold?" Upon arriving at his side, she could tell that he was unconscious. "Come on, Gold, wake up!" she yelled, shaking him furiously by the shoulders. He wasn't breathing, however. A thought occurred and Crystal became seriously worried. "Tell me you're not dead, Gold! You can't die!"

After a few more unsuccessful shakes, she couldn't help but let a few tears fall. She now had no choice but to use CPR. Crystal forced Gold's windpipe open and after pinching his nose, placed her lips on his and blew air into his lungs. She then placed both of her hands on his chest and pushed down repeatedly.

"Come on, Gold! If you die, I swear I'll kill you!"

After ten pushes, she leaned over for another mouth-to-mouth resuscitation when Gold's eyes snapped open. The very first thing he saw was Crystal's face right in front of his, with her lips touching his.

"Holy crap!" he yelled in surprise as he pushed her backwards. "Damn, Super Serious Gal," he started, taking deep breaths to calm his surprise. "I know I'm irresistible, but restrain yourself! You may want me, I know. Lots of girls do. But this glorious dude is for display only! Hands off the merchandise!"

Crystal's face turned bright red from embarrassment and anger. "You jerk! Do you have _any_ idea how much I was worried?" she screamed. "If you died, I'd be all alone and our friends and seniors would-"

"Whoa, easy there, Crys," Gold said while laughing. "I'm perfectly fine. And I'm glad that you are too."

Crystal kept her deadly glare at him but her anger soon calmed. "What happened Gold? Those Ghost types…"

"ShadowNet," Gold replied. "They were using that abandoned boat as a lure. They got their Ghost type Pokémon to sneak onto the ship through the hull and destroyed the engine to create a hole big enough for their trainers to sneak onboard. I saw them destroy the engine and I was fighting them when I saw some go up through the ceiling. I assumed they were after you, so I came to help. Even though ShadowNet's Pokémon were attacking through the walls, they were no match for this genius's super amazing strategy!"

Crystal listened as Gold explained how he saved her. She filtered out all the bragging and noticed that his plan was, surprisingly enough, quite ingenious.

"Okay then, Mr. Genius," Crystal started. She decided to indulge him for once, as she felt thankful that he saved her. "What's the plan? We still have a mission to accomplish in Seven Island, and we have absolutely no idea where we are."

"Ah, yes. The plan," Gold said with a slight chuckle. He crossed his arms and appeared to be in deep thought. "There are absolutely no leads at this time," he said after 10 seconds of silence.

Crystal groaned and slapped a hand over her face. "Okay then… Mr. Idiot, what's the situation? What do we have and what are we missing?"

"Oh, come on Crys! I saved your life, and here you are, calling me an idiot!" Gold said with a (undoubtedly faked) hurt expression. He suddenly grinned. "But I'll ignore that and pretend that you still called me a genius. To answer your question, we are missing our bags and thereby all of our Pokémon, food, and other stuff."

"Great… no Pokémon, no Pokégear, no maps, no food, no water, n-"

"No loneliness though. We still have each other," Gold added abruptly. "Damn, that sounded mushy…"

Crystal realized that she was missing her hat and her headset. She looked at Gold and noticed that he still had his hat, but no headset, somehow.

"Gold, where's your headset? Don't tell me that your hat remained on your thick head while your headset was washed away in the water."

"Nah. I kept that thing in my bag. I don't like the way it interferes with my hairstyle," Gold replied.

"Gold! The whole point of the headset was for you to keep it on at all times!" Crystal exclaimed. "Why the hell did you even take one if you were going to keep it in your bag?"

"Whoa! Easy there, Crys! I'm sorry, alright?" Gold shook his head as he rose to his feet. "I sure as hell didn't expect to be yelled at by the person I saved," he grumbled out.

Crystal quickly jumped to her feet. She just realized how harsh she was being to the boy who saved her life. "I'm sorry, Gold. I'm just… stressed," she tried to explain.

"Forget it, Super Serious Gal," Gold said as he turned away from her. "It's a little too late for that."

Crystal placed her hands on his shoulder. Sense of guilt was bearing down on her and she felt horrible. "I'm being honest. I'm really sorry. You saved my life, and it was just awful for me to treat you like that. Please forgive me."

Gold grinned. '_Ah guilty conscience… it never fails._' "In that case… can you call me Mr. Hero?"

The Johto girl recognized that tone and in an instant, realized that Gold was faking being hurt. "You're a jerk, you know that?"

The goggled boy turned around and looked at her with a grin. "Sorry, Crys. I just couldn't help it."

Crystal sighed, but was glad that Gold was smiling. "Well… thanks for saving me anyways. And again, I'm sorry for…" She trailed off and sneezed abruptly. "Oh… it's getting really cold…"

Gold looked at her for a second before he took his jacket off. Before Crystal could ask what he was doing, he put it on her and walked away. "Come on, Crys. Let's see if we can find out where we are."

Crystal looked surprised, but soon smiled and followed. She was still worried about everything, but at least she wasn't separated from Gold. The two Johto Dex Holders ventured around the coastline. That way, they wouldn't get lost and had a guaranteed chance of finding some hint of civilization (namely, a harbor), unless they were stranded on an uninhabited island.

Twenty minutes later, the two Johto Dex Holders came across what they were looking for.

"Well… here's the harbor," Crystal muttered. "Or what's left of it, anyways… What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. Some kind of explosion, for sure. And a big one too. There's barely anything left of this place."

Crystal examined the remnants of the harbor. The harbor only had the loading dock (barely intact) and the first few layers of brick of the first floor. But given how the remnants were completely charred and pieces of brick and mortar were scattered far, far away from the building site…

"It seems like this place was hit by a really strong Fire type attack that resulted in an explosion. But how would a Fire type attack result in an explosion this big?"

Crystal was about to turn towards Gold when he suddenly stopped her. He forced her to look away.

"Whoa, Crys. Don't look here."

"Huh? Why?"

"Unless, of course, you want to see the employee of this harbor. Well, what's left of him, anyways." Gold looked around the body. "Hmm… I wonder what happened to his pants… and his legs… and his hips! I can see the spine, but nothing below…"

"I don't want to know," Crystal said as she placed her hands over her ears.

Gold left her alone and crouched in front of the skeletal remains. He could see something in the chest pocket of the skeleton's jacket. He pulled it out and could see that it was a map… Gold spread it out and observed carefully. It appeared to be a map of the Sevii Islands, but had various doodles all over the place. Gold looked at the back and saw that the backside had a detailed map of an island, presumably the one where they were right now. The goggled boy folded the map and put it in his pocket. He would study it more later.

"Come on, Crys. Let's get out of here."

Crystal silently nodded and the two Johto Dex Holders began to walk away from the wreckage. After 30 minutes of walking, the two stopped and built a fire in order to stay warm. Even though it was still summer, they were drenched and it was getting dark, so they were getting really cold.

Gold simply sat in front of the fire, poking at the burning wood with his indestructible billiard cue. Crystal sat on the opposite side, hugging her knees and staring at the fire with a blank look. She suddenly sighed and Gold looked up at her.

"Super Serious Gal, what's wrong?"

Crystal looked away from the fire and into his eyes. She looked very depressed and worried.

"Aren't you worried at all? We have no Pokémon, no supplies, we have no idea where we are, we're clearly on an uninhabited island, ShadowNet is doing something crucial that we were supposed to stop, but we can't now. I mean this… is a huge failure. We failed, Gold, and there's absolutely nothing we can do." She looked back at the fire and let out a long sigh.

Gold simply stood up and walked around the fire. He sat beside Crystal and put an arm around her shoulders. "Relax, Crys. Things will be alright. We've been through worse situations and we're still here. And besides, we didn't use up all of our options yet."

Crystal looked over at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

Gold reached into his pocket and withdrew the map he obtained from the skeletal remains. He set it down on the ground so that Crystal could use the light from the fire to see.

"See, according to this map here," Gold started. "We're on an island that was set for development somewhere between Four and Five Islands."

"I've never heard of an island between those two," Crystal muttered. "So we really are on an uninhabited island."

"Yeah, I guess. That harbor we found must've been an attempt to make this place inhabited, but clearly, that didn't go so well. But look here," Gold said as he flipped the map over.

Crystal looked at the detailed map of the uninhabited island. There were lots of markings here and there and she could see a circle on the map that indicated the location of the harbor. But in the center of an island, there was a large 'danger' sign next to a large mountainous cave.

"What's this?" she asked as she pointed at the cave.

"Good question. That's what we're going to find out. This island is clearly devoid of people, other than us. If there's any method of us escaping this place and stopping the ShadowNet plan from working, this cave is it."

Crystal looked around and soon spotted the mountainous cave in the distance. It was really tall, and although she never really paid any attention to it earlier, now that she looked at it, it looked… dangerous and unnatural.

"Okay. But we should get going right now. We need to get off this island as quickly as possible," Crystal said as she rose to her feet.

Soon, the two Johto Dex Holders ventured towards the center of the mystic island. Although nightfall was upon them, they did not take any torches so that they wouldn't attract any attention from hostile Pokémon. But for some reason, as the two Dex Holders crept through the thick forest and bushes, they did not hear anything. The entire island was eerily quiet. It appeared that absolutely no wild Pokémon were living on the island…

Two hours later, the two Dex Holders finally arrived at the mountainous cavern. Although the entire island was dark, there seemed to be some sort of light filtering _from_ inside of the cave. Gold carefully approached the entrance and peeked in. The inside of the cave was somehow illuminated, despite non-existing sources of light.

"What the hell is this place?" Gold muttered as he looked further inside. The inside appeared to be… a long hallway, if anything else.

Crystal followed him and shivered slightly. "This cave is a little creepy," she said. "It feels really weird and even a little scary." Just then, the entire cave seemed to shake as a deep growl reverberated from deep inside. "Wh – What was that?"

Gold took her hand and gently squeezed. "Don't worry too much, Crys. I'm here. Let's keep going; we have no choice."

Crystal slightly blushed in embarrassment but nodded. As Gold walked deeper into the cave, she followed quietly, observing the oddly illuminated innards of the mystic cave. "This cave is _definitely_ not a natural formation. Someone, or some_thing_ built it, so it must lead somewhere. I think you're right in assuming there's a way out of this place in here."

Gold nodded. "I told you. This genius is _always_ right."

Crystal rolled her eyes but didn't reply. The two Johto Dex Holders continued walking deeper into the cave and eventually came across a dead end. But in the corner, there was a large gap in the ground and a _ladder_ was sticking out of the hole. Gold approached the ladder and tested his weight against it. Even though the ladder appeared to be centuries old, it was oddly sturdy. It felt like it was made of metal, despite appearing to be a rotting piece of wood. Gold soon climbed down and Crystal followed as well.

Once the two Johto Dex Holders were on the ground, they looked on and could see yet another long, long 'hallway', but this time, with branching pathways. Gold and Crystal carefully proceeded, still awed by how the path was illuminated despite being underground.

The two came across a small branching path to the left. While Gold looked ahead in the main path, Crystal peeked around the corner to the branch. The branch appeared to be a dead end, so she patted Gold on the back and the two continued forward. The two repeated the process with the second branching path, to the right.

After 10 minutes of walking, the main 'hallway' split into two. The path to the left led to a ladder reaching up to the level above, and the path to the right had a ladder reaching down to the level below.

"I'll take the one on the left," Gold said.

"Alright then. I guess I'll go right then." Crystal looked at Gold. "Whoever finds an escape solution first should come back and get the other."

"Sure."

"And be careful, Gold," Crystal said with a worried expression.

Gold grinned. "I always do."

Crystal shook her head at his statement (a blatant lie) and watched as Gold climbed the ladder to the level above. She wished him luck and proceeded down the ladder to the right.

Gold finished climbing up the ladder and noticed that… he was in a tiny room with another ladder right beside. He climbed that one and noticed that he was in yet another tiny room with yet another ladder right beside. He cursed and climbed that one too. But no matter how many times he climbed, he was in the same room (or so it appeared) with a ladder. Gold looked through the hole on the ceiling and saw the same room above him.

"F*ck," he muttered. He let out an explosive sigh and began to climb again. "Oh boy, I can't wait to climb _down_ all these ladders again!"

Meanwhile, Crystal was experiencing the same thing as Gold, but going down. No matter how many ladders she climbed down, there was always another one leading to a level below. Crystal looked through the hole in the ground and saw the same room below her.

"Oh, come on!" she exclaimed in frustration. She sighed and climbed down again. "Great. I can't wait to climb _up_ all these ladders again!"

…

August 16th, 12:30 am, unknown island, 50th floor…

…

Gold climbed _yet another_ ladder and he found himself on the top of the mountainous cave. He dragged his tired body onto the top level and lay down.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. "That was _torture_!"

The howling wind forced Gold to get up to his feet. Even though the wind was bone chilling, he could sense some intense heat coming from ahead. He carefully walked further onwards until he could see what was at the end. He simply froze and stared ahead. The source of the heat was… Ho-oh.

"Oh… sh*t."

…

Meanwhile, 100 floors down…

…

Crystal finally finished climbing down all the ladders. She lay down on the cold, humid ground to rest her tired body. The level she was in was dank and quite dark. She could hear a waterfall in the distance, which surprisingly, didn't echo as loudly as it should in a cave.

Crystal was about to massage her tired legs when she suddenly felt an immense pressure coming from ahead. She forced herself up to her feet and carefully proceeded onwards. She instantly froze when a pair of large eyes suddenly glowed in the darkness ahead. Just then, the entire level seemed to get some illumination from somewhere and Crystal could see that she was standing directly in front of… Lugia.

"Oh… crap."

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: We've finished the final preparations.

L: Good. Activate Project 05-032. It's time.

D: With pleasure. But sir, what does the project even do?

L: What's the one thing the Dex Holders can't fight, no matter how much they're being attacked?

D: … Themselves?

L: No, you idiot. People. _General_ people. Those bystanders who live in cities and towns and everywhere in between. So if they work for us, the Dex Holders will be unable to stop us.

D: … And… how are we going to make the people join us?

L: _That's_ what the Project 05-032 is for!

D: How does it work?

L: … Just watch the damn camera feeds.

…

30 minutes later, Navel Rock, 1 am…

…

The two Johto Legendaries instantly turned to face the direction of Seven Island. They then turned to look in the direction of Johto, followed by Sinnoh. They could sense something… They resumed their focus to the Johto Dex Holders in front of them.

Gold and Crystal tried their best to convince Ho-oh and Lugia to help them. They knew that they couldn't battle the two Legendaries. They had absolutely no Pokémon, and even if they did, they weren't going to fight (that'd be suicidal).

Gold took a nervous gulp and looked at Ho-oh expectantly. He didn't want to anger it in any way, as he didn't want to take a Sacred Fire at point blank range. Having absolutely no method of defending himself, he could only hope for the best. But maybe it was because the Ho-oh felt a disturbance or because Gold was so damn good at convincing others, the Rainbow Pokémon eventually lowered itself so that Gold could climb on. The goggled boy appeared hesitant, but after another screech from Ho-oh, he obliged and carefully hopped on.

The Ho-oh lifted off and waited near the edge of the island. Before long, something shot out of the water below and Lugia appeared in front of the Rainbow Pokémon. Gold looked at the Diving Pokémon and could see Crystal riding it. She was drenched, but otherwise perfectly intact.

"Hey, Crys! You doing okay?" Gold yelled.

"Yes, I'm fine!" Crystal yelled back. "It was scary, but I'm okay!"

The two Johto Legendaries quickly flew towards Seven Island and due to their power and speed, they managed to get there within a matter of minutes. The two Johto Dex Holders scanned the island below. It was late at night, so they looked for buildings that had unusually large amount of people coming in and out. Soon, they found the structure they were looking for. It was a big building with a giant satellite dish of some sort on the roof. Crystal narrowed her eyes and tried to see clearly. Although she couldn't see perfectly, she was sure that one of the people exiting the structure was wearing ShadowNet uniform.

The two Johto Legendaries swooped down for a better view. But as they did so, a large group of civilians started to gather on the ground below them. They all had their arms outstretched towards them and were clawing at the air. Crystal looked at them and noticed that they all had a white mask of sorts on their faces.

"So this is what ShadowNet was up to?" she muttered.

"Damn. So it turns out that ShadowNet's trying to mind control these people like Pryce did years ago!" Gold yelled out. "But how did they get so many people so quickly?"

Crystal pointed to the right. "Look, Gold. There's more." She looked at the building and examined the large satellite dish. "Gold, I think ShadowNet is transmitting some kind of radio waves that are affecting people like this somehow. I don't know why nothing's happening to us, but we can't take any chances. We have to destroy that building!"

The suspected ShadowNet grunt in front of the building sent out his standard issue Pokémon and prepared to fight. Lugia and Ho-oh dispatched the ShadowNet grunt's entire team quickly. But then, the door to the suspected ShadowNet building opened and a horde of grunts began to file out. They all sent out their standard issue Pokémon and the air in front of the building seemed to fill up with Pokémon.

Crystal pointed at the group and gave Lugia a gentle pat. "Okay, let's see the Aeroblast that you tried to kill us with years ago!"

The Diving Pokémon took a deep, deep breath and unleashed the power of its signature Move. All of the ShadowNet grunts and their standard issue Pokémon were blown backwards from the power of Aeroblast. The force was enough to slam all of them into the wall of the structure and even _through_ it.

Gold pointed at the damaged structure. "Alright! Now let's see the Sacred Fire that you tried to kill me with the same number of years ago!"

The Rainbow Pokémon charged up a large bluish fireball and blasted the structure with the mystical Fire type attack. The mystical Fire type attack combined with the continuous stream of Lugia's Aeroblast and caused a massive explosion that completely obliterated the ShadowNet structure. Only then did Gold and Crystal realize that the destroyed harbor on the mystic island was the result of the two signature Moves combining.

Once the two Johto Dex Holders were sure that the ShadowNet building was completely destroyed, they looked down at the horde of mind controlled people. But the group seems to have changed for the worst…

Crystal gasped and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh no… what have we done?"

* * *

><p><strong>Wow. This chapter was all Gold and Crystal. Absolutely no other Dex Holder appeared, let alone being mentioned. In this chapter, I tried to incorporate all of Navel Rock from the games. From the harbor (obviously not destroyed in the games), a scared voice saying there was a deep rumble from inside the caves (a sailor in the games), branching paths in one level, etc. The island was referred to as "mystic island" because the Event Key Item: Mystic Ticket is required to get to Navel Rock.<strong>

**Anyways, with this, the original version of SE #014: Stranded has occurred in SA. The original versions of SE #003: Memory Loss and SE #016: Distress are coming.**


	21. Revelation

**Though I said that White is not a Dex Holder in SA (somewhere in the news section), I'm overriding that statement. White is a Dex Holder in SA. #15. I'm just going to say that in her first appearance in SA #016: Two Betrayals, she said that the Pokédex wasn't hers because it was Black's and hers was still in the bag.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 20: Revelation<p>

August 16th, 1:40 am, Seven Island…

Crystal watched in horror as the mind controlled people below 'her' Lugia started to change. Before the ShadowNet building was destroyed, the people only had white masks on their faces and acted like mindless zombies (Crystal had seen plenty in horror movies). But now… they were far different than anything she had ever seen. The white mask seemed to have expanded and stretched onto the arms. The white material changed into three long tentacles on the left arm and all the controlled people started to thrash around.

One of the controlled people jumped in the air and surprisingly, landed on Lugia's head… 10 meters above the ground. Crystal shrieked in surprise as the controlled civilian growled at her in a voice that sounded horribly unnatural and creepy. The Diving Pokémon quickly jerked backwards, which forced Crystal to fall onto its back and the controlled civilian off its head. Crystal quickly looked down and saw the controlled civilian hit the ground with a splat. She winced and tried to look away, but in that instant, the civilian got back up and looked up at her.

Lugia and Ho-oh both flew a little higher above the ground so that while they would be (hopefully) out of jumping range of the controlled civilians, the two Johto Dex Holders would still be able to see what was going on.

"Hey Crys, you okay?" Gold asked.

"Y – Yeah… I think I'm good," Crystal replied. Her voice was still shaking, though. She looked behind her and could see a swarm of flying things heading closer very fast. "What's that?"

Gold looked back and saw the swarm. "I don't know. They kind of look like the Unown."

"But why are they white?" Crystal muttered. She observed the swarm and suddenly looked very alerted. "They're coming right for us!"

Lugia and Ho-oh both used Safeguard just before the odd Unown swarm could reach them. The wondrous protective field repelled the Unown and the two Johto Legendary Pokémon proceeded to shake them off the barrier itself. Perhaps realizing that they had no chance of breaking through the Safeguard set up by the two powerful Legendaries, the Unown scattered away, all heading to ground level, allowing the two Legendaries to fly away unhindered.

"What the hell is this about?" Gold muttered. "The Unown… they were completely white…"

"Hey! Help us!" came a voice from below.

Gold and Crystal looked down and could see a handful of uncontrolled people waving at them from the roof of an apartment. Gold and Crystal got the two Johto Legendaries to land on the roof so that they may save the people. The moment Lugia landed, Crystal got off so that she may help the civilians get onto the Diving Pokémon. But the moment she touched the roof, several of the odd Unown appeared from edge of the rooftop and swarmed the civilians.

Crystal was about to help a little boy when an Unown flew closer and attached itself onto the boy's face. The little boy fell onto the floor and started to thrash around, screaming in pain. Crystal quickly approached to help but before she could, the boy got back to his feet. He was now one of those creepy controlled civilians…

The controlled boy let out a long growl as he lunged forward. Crystal quickly jumped backwards. The three long formed tentacles missed the girl but hit the rooftop with enough power and force to shatter several tiles and create a crack on the roof. The girl could see the boy's expression quite clearly. His eyes were wide open and he seemed very scared. He seemed to try to stop himself but clearly couldn't. There was a fist sized solid lump of the white material on his neck and had a small black dot. It appeared that the eye of the Unown was situated there.

Crystal quickly grabbed onto Lugia just as the Diving Pokémon lifted off. But she didn't have a good grip… Gold got Ho-oh to fly underneath Lugia and helped Crystal get onto Ho-oh instead.

"Crys, you okay?" he asked in a worried tone once she was seated firmly behind him.

"N – No…" the girl muttered. She looked into Gold's eyes and he could see how troubled she was. "We have to get to Pallet Town as soon as possible… We have to let the others know what happened…"

…

Two hours later, 4 am, Red's house…

…

Sapphire woke up from her sleep when she heard loud static coming from her headset. She quickly sat up and berated herself for falling asleep. She was supposed to be waiting for Ruby to call her so that she could pick him up from Johto. He was still on his mission to Violet City and his last call indicated that there was absolutely no ShadowNet presence in the city. But to be absolutely sure, he chose to stay there and look around. He said that he would call her if he wanted to return. But it seemed that Red's comfortable sofa and the horribly undecorated (blank white walls) living room had a hypnotizing effect.

Sapphire pressed a button on her headset. "… Yeah? Ruby, is that you?"

"S – Sapphire!" Ruby's voice came from the headset.

"Ruby! What's going on over there?" Sapphire asked. She instantly became extremely worried, as she recognized the agony in Ruby's voice. "Are you hurt?"

"Sapphire! L – Listen… Don't… don't come to Johto!" Ruby yelled out. His voice was shaking and it sounded like he was growling.

"What's going on? Are you okay?" Sapphire asked in panic. "Please tell me you're okay… If ShadowNet's attacking you, I'll get there as fast as I can!"

"No! D – Don't be a fool…" Ruby growled out. "It… it's not ShadowNet… Don't… no… Stay there! … Sapphire… please… stay _away_! Don't… …"

Ruby's voice trailed off into a groan caused by excruciating pain. Sapphire shot up to her feet and hastily headed for the door. But in her panic, she tripped over a small table that was right in front of the comforting sofa. The small table flipped over and hit the floor with a loud thud, instantly awaking the newest member of Red's team.

"Huh? … What's going on?" Black asked as he sat up. Due to a lack of furniture, the Unova Dex Holder was forced to sleep on the rock hard floor (a not-so-nice change from sleeping in tents).

"No time to explain!" Sapphire quickly replied as she reset the knocked over table. She quickly dashed towards the front door of her senior's house, but in her rush, stumbled on the shoes that were scattered all over the entrance (a mess that Platinum would've cleaned, if she was around).

By the time Sapphire found her shoes and put them on, Red came downstairs from his bedroom, wondering what the ruckus was about.

Meanwhile, at Professor Oak's lab, Gold and Crystal were busy describing their mission results to everyone present. Crystal followed her re-con-dis system to the letter and clearly described all the events in chronological order in her perspective. Gold simply filled in the missing pieces in Crystal's story.

"Wait… the Unown?" Blue muttered. "If ShadowNet had a radio transmitter that affected Unown, it's possible that the waves affected the Unown in other regions…" A look of dread suddenly appeared on her face. "Violet City… ShadowNet's focus was on Violet City because it's the very first Johto City to be affected by the Unown."

"From the Ruins of Alph?" Gold asked.

Blue nodded. A thought occurred and she started to pace around. "Oh no… Ruby went there to search for ShadowNet presence…"

"What about Sinnoh? Do you think the radio waves affected the Unown there too?" Diamond asked.

"Where are the Unown in Sinnoh?" Blue asked.

"Solaceon Ruins in the eastern end of Solaceon Town."

Blue gasped in shock. "Oh no… Silver was sent there! He would've been searching there by now!" Blue reached for her headset and tried to contact Silver. "Silver, this is Blue. If you're there, answer right now!"

Everyone observed Blue's expression carefully to determine what was happening. Crystal helped Diamond use his headset to listen in on the frequency. Blue resumed pacing around and each step seemed to increase the desperation and panic. Suddenly, she stopped moving.

Diamond took off his headset. "Crystal, listen to this," he whispered.

Crystal took the headset and put it on. The moment she did, she could hear some sort of a growl. She frowned. That growl sounded familiar…

"That's the same sound the little controlled boy made back in Seven Island," she muttered.

"So this thing is spreading in Sinnoh too?" Diamond exclaimed.

"Um… I heard that ShadowNet was unable to get a foothold in Sinnoh," White started. She was rather nervous, as this was the very first time she spoke her opinion regarding a world threatening event in front of a group of Dex Holders. "That means our allies there aren't occupied. Perhaps we should contact them and… see if they can quarantine the outbreak."

Blue glared at her. "Quarantine Solaceon Town while Silver's in there somewhere? You call that a suggestion?"

"Blue, White's right," Crystal said quietly. "We can't let this thing spread around Sinnoh completely. Though Gold and I destroyed the radio transmitter and so no more Unown can be transformed into this… virus, we don't know how many Unown have been transformed so far. There may be a lot more hiding inside the ruins that haven't spread yet."

"What about Silver?" Blue demanded.

"You know him better than anyone else," Crystal said. "He'll be fine. I know it."

Blue sighed and put a hand on her forehead. She was starting to get a headache… "I've been looking after him for 16 years now. I just… can't believe that there's nothing I can do for him right now."

"And senior Blue, Silver's not the only thing you should be worried about," Gold added abruptly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Blue asked. Crystal glared at Gold for being so blunt.

The goggled boy didn't seem to get the hint. "We saw One Island on the way here. It was being destroyed."

"… What?" Blue asked. Her face was turning pale.

"Half of the houses were on fire. There were hundreds of people running and screaming, and the Unown virus was starting to spread there."

Blue started to feel dizzy. She staggered backwards and sat on the couch. "So… m – my parents…"

Crystal smacked Gold on the back of the head while the Kanto girl started to hyperventilate. White sat beside Blue and tried to comfort her senior. Blue shakily reached up to her headset and contacted Yellow.

"Y – Yellow… Get… get Green over here," she blurted out between breaths.

"Blue? What's wrong?" came Yellow's rather tired voice.

Blue tried to explain the situation but couldn't manage through her panic. She ended up jumbling words together and created one long incoherent message.

In Green's house, Yellow shut off her headset and hastily ran upstairs to Green's bedroom, carefully jumping over the waking bodies of Emerald and Pearl. Even though Blue's message was… incomprehensible, Yellow understood just enough to know that something absolutely terrible has happened. The Kanto Dex Holder opened the door to Green's bedroom after a few knocks. She found the Gym Leader sleeping like a machine (absolutely no hints of movement or sound) on the bed.

"… Green?"

The Viridian Gym Leader grunted in his sleep but didn't wake up.

"GREEN!"

Green snapped awake and instantly sat up, his hands on top of the Pokéballs containing his Charizard and Scizor. He took a split second to survey his surroundings. Yellow was leaning over the bed, looking somewhat troubled.

"What's wrong?" the Gym Leader asked.

"Something… terrible has happened," Yellow replied. "I don't know exactly, but Blue called me and said something about her parents and Silver. I couldn't hear her clearly, but she sounded very distraught."

Green got off his bed and went into the washroom attached to his room. Within 3 seconds, he had changed into his everyday clothes and headed downstairs. Yellow quickly followed, wondering how exactly the Gym Leader had changed so fast.

"Everybody, up!" Green yelled at his team members. Emerald and Pearl stood up and looked at their senior. "We are going to grandfather's lab right now. Get ready!"

Within a minute, Green arrived at the lab and entered. The moment he did, Blue ran up to him and practically fell into his embrace.

"Green! I – I have to go to One Island," she said in a shaky voice. "M – My parents… they're in danger…"

Green looked into her watery eyes for a second before he nodded. "Alright then. Let's go." He glanced behind him and saw Yellow running closer. "Yellow, you're in charge again with Red."

Yellow nodded and watched as Green and Blue flew off on the Gym Leader's Charizard. She then entered the lab along with Emerald and Pearl and joined the other Dex Holders in discussion.

"What should we do?" Crystal asked.

"Um… the first thing would be to get Red and his team over here," Yellow said after a short moment of thought. "When they come here, Gold, Crystal, you two should tell them everything. Emerald, please try to contact someone in Hoenn and tell them what happened. I don't think the Unown are capable of flying over long distances, but there is a risk that they'll hide in a ship or something and spread in Hoenn. I'll go to Lugia and Ho-oh and try to see what they saw."

White raised a hand. "Perhaps we should try to find additional talented trainers? Since ShadowNet is in Johto and we have the outbreak in Violet City and Seven Island, we don't have as much resource abundance as Hoenn or Sinnoh."

Crystal nodded. "That's a good idea. But how do we find them?"

White reached into her bag and pulled out a small notebook. "As the president of the BW Agency, I meet lots of trainers, some of which are extremely talented. I know a few of them personally and some live around Kanto and Johto, and I have their contact information. I think they'll be very helpful to us."

"Okay then," Yellow started. "Diamond, Pearl, go with White and try to find those trainers. But Diamond, I think you should go to Viridian City first and tell Platinum. Comfort her so that she doesn't panic or worry about her family." She then looked over at Gold and Crystal. "When Red's team arrives and you two tell them everything, then we'll be mounting a rescue attempt for Ruby. We'll have to discuss that with Red."

"Okay," Crystal said with a nod. "But Yellow, I must say, I'm very impressed with how you're ordering the other Dex Holders. When Blue and Green are here, you never really say anything. But you're very good at being in charge."

Yellow played with her hair sheepishly. "Well, um… I guess I learned from watching them."

…

6:30 am, One Island…

…

Green and Blue examined the island below as they came close. Blue put a hand over her mouth as she saw the state of her home island. Green glanced at her and noticed the devastated expression. He got Charizard to quickly land on a safe location. From the distance, the two Kanto Dex Holders could see the transformed Unown flying around in swarms.

Upon landing, Green returned Charizard and sent out Scizor. With the Scizor protecting them, the two Kanto Dex Holders quickly and quietly headed towards Blue's house. Blue looked around the destroyed neighborhood and couldn't help but let a few tears fall. So many people were harmed…

Within half an hour, the two Dex Holders arrived at Blue's house. The house was still on fire, so they quickly sent out Blastoise and Golduck to extinguish the flames. The moment the house was deemed safe to enter, Blue ran inside with a flashlight in hand.

"Mom! Daddy!" she yelled as she began looking around. Green quickly followed, leaving his Golduck to guard the entrance. He returned Scizor to its Pokéball, as it wouldn't like being around a burning house, but was still needed in case of trouble.

Green started to open every door he saw as he began his thorough search throughout the burnt house. Blue headed downstairs to the basement. She recalled the conversation she had with her father, in which she told him to hide in the basement in case of a ShadowNet invasion. The stairs leading to the basement were completely charred black. Blue carefully tiptoed downstairs, using the flashlight to see whether a particular stair step was about to crumble. Once she cleared the staircase, she slowly proceeded.

"Mom? Daddy?" she called. "Are you in here?"

Blue quickly turned around a corner and a dark crouched figure instantly came into her limited view. She let out a short shriek of surprise and took a couple of steps backwards. But the standing figure wasn't one of the controlled civilians Crystal had told her about. The figure was completely black, roughly humanoid in shape, and was curled up into a ball on the charred floor. There was something on the floor in front of the figure, partially crushed under a thick piece of the ceiling that broke off during the house fire. Blue took a few steps closer and examined the figure. A sudden realization caused her to drop her flashlight and let out a long scream.

Green was still on the first floor when he heard Blue's scream. Thinking that the Kanto girl had run into one of the transformed Unown, Green quickly rushed downstairs with his Scizor's Pokéball in hand. In the basement, he found Blue on her knees, crying in front of a dark, curled up figure. Only until he came closer did Green realize that the dark figure was a person that had been burnt into a crisp. More specifically, the figure was Blue's mother…

"Mom… daddy…" Blue cried out.

Green looked past Blue and saw the burnt remains of the girl's father, crushed under fallen debris. It seemed that Blue's father was crushed under fallen debris during the house fire and the mother tried to save him. But they must have passed out from the fumes created by the fire and ultimately died.

Blue gingerly embraced her burnt parents and continued to weep. Green simply stood beside her, as he had no idea what to do about a desolate scene like this one. He had been in a similar situation once before several years ago, that involved Silver and Giovanni. But at that time, Giovanni wasn't quite dead.

Green soon thought of what to do and crouched beside Blue. He put an arm around her shaking shoulders. "Blue, I know it's hard, but we have to go now. It's not safe here."

"Why… why?" she sobbed out. "Why did m – my parents… have to die?"

"Blue, come on. There was nothing you could do."

Blue closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against the rough burnt shoulder of her mother. Her cries have died out, but tears continued to stream. With one hand, she held her father's hand and with the other, her mother's. A thought suddenly occurred and her eyes snapped open.

"This… this was m – my fault…" she muttered. "I – I told my parents to hide in the basement… If… if I didn't, then they would have escaped and survived…" Blue burst into tears again and embraced the visible part of her father. "Daddy! I'm sorry! I should have protected you better…"

Green rubbed Blue on the back and tried to comfort her. He could hear his Golduck using Hydro Pump outside, and decided that he needed to pull Blue away from her dead parents. He grabbed her shaking shoulders and gently pulled her off. The girl let herself be pulled up to her feet, but still looked at her parents. Green looked at the girl's parents and at that instant, the charred remnants of the mother crumbled apart.

Blue looked absolutely horrified. She began to stammer out something incomprehensible and started to tremble violently. Though she didn't make a sound, when her father's _head_ began to crumble, she couldn't take it anymore. She began to hyperventilate again and even as Green quickly led her out of the basement, fainted in his arms.

Green gently lifted Blue's unconscious body onto his arms. Seeing her parents' charred remains crumble apart right in front of her eyes was definitely too much for her. Green quickly carried her upstairs and out of the burnt house. Outside, his Golduck was busy blasting a group of controlled civilians who were mindlessly running and jumping closer while flailing their arms.

Green sent out his Charizard and quickly hopped on. He still held onto Blue with one arm while he used the other to return his Golduck. "We have to get to Viridian City. Go to the hospital there, as fast as you can."

…

Meanwhile…

…

L: How could I have known that the project would fail? Undoubtedly this is the Dex Holders' doing! A final, bitter cu-

D: Sir, our special taskforce has arrived in Canalave City and has gathered in Jubilife City without detection.

L: … How dare you interrupt my rant? And can you explain to me why our precious project failed so quickly and easily?

D: The project would have been a complete success as long as the stabilizer was intact. It was entirely an oversight that we placed the stabilizer right beside the transmitter. When the Dex Holders destroyed the transmitter, the stabilizer went with it and… our project is going rampant.

L: Great… just great… But it's possible to use this to our advantage. Have all of our forces in Johto to quarantine Ruins of Alph and Violet City. Spread the word that it was the Dex Holders' fault that this Unown virus is spreading. If we appear to try to stop this outbreak, then people will think that we are on their side while the Dex Holders are not.

D: What about our taskforce in Sinnoh?

L: Have them go to Sandgem Town. Since we failed to gain control of the region the first time, the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four there will focus on the outbreak in Solaceon Town. So our taskforce will have no problems in carrying out our plan. In Sandgem Town, find the biggest mansion there. The Dex Holder that was captured at one point lives there. Though she may be in Kanto, her father is still in the mansion. The mother… we have no idea. Anyways, the father would probably leave the mansion in order to discuss possible actions regarding the Unown outbreak with the region's professor. When he does leave the mansion, grab him, eliminate his guards, and have our greatest imitator replace him. Once he does, there will be a new task for him. Afterwards, have everyone except the imitator go straight to Twinleaf Town and search for the mother of a different Dex Holder. Kidnap her and we'll render two Dex Holders harmless. If everything goes as planned, two Dex Holders will become harmless while another one will die.

D: … How so?

L: The Dex Holder from Sandgem is very proud. That was why we failed to get any information out of her when she was captive. Our plan in Sandgem targets that pride and sense of honor, dignity, whatever. If the plan succeeds, then 9 times out of 10, the girl will end up killing herself.

D: And if the plan fails?

L: … Then she'll be pissed at us and will alert the champion of Sinnoh that our forces are still in the region. The Elite Four will come and… we'll never be able to set foot in Sinnoh ever again.

D: A risky plan…

L: Got any better ideas?

D: No sir.

L: Good.

* * *

><p><strong>Current Dex Holder KIAMIA list: Silver, Ruby.**

**As mentioned in the SA news segment during the latest SR update, SA is no longer worth my time and effort. Though SR is showing some hope, SA is not. This chapter will be the very last update for SA until I see some promise. If I do see some hope, then SA will continue until the second Intermission scene and will stop there until the standards I've set for the whole story back in SA #004 are met. If not… then no one will get to see the stuff I promised in SE, such as Arceus vs. Deoxys. And to be honest, I feel there's an 85% chance that SA will never be updated after this point. But in the off-chance that it does, I can almost guarantee that SA will never continue after Intermission Scene Part 2.**

**The cancellation/continuation of SA will be reflected in the next update of SE/SA/SR/SL. If I decide to continue with SA, then the next update will be SA #021. If not, then the first chapter of my fourth Special series story (SL) will be uploaded instead. For those who put this story under your favorites list (or simply following) **_**and**_** added me as a favorite author (or simply following), then the next alert will tell you the fate of SA. That's kind of convenient, isn't it?**

**For the 3 faithful reviewers, if SA is cancelled and you want to know what was supposed to happen in the end (and what the current poll would actually do), ask.**

**And from this point on, I'll try to update the news for SX only when SX is updated (SX is not a story, but Special X where X is either Events, Adventures, Randomness, or L). I thought that this would be useful in case SX doesn't get updated, but I don't think it's working as planned. If the news of possible impending SA cancellation was a shock right now, then clearly, my initial news update system was a failure.**

**Also, the current poll (Favorite 4****th**** Generation Dex Holder?) will be closed. I said that it would close at the second Intermission part of SA, but since it's entirely possible that that chapter will never come, I'm closing the poll early. The next one has no hidden question or motif.**

**So… read (done), review (which like… 4% of you will), read news (who knows?), vote, repeat, and hope that SA will not be scrapped and burned.**


	22. Quarantine Zone

**As I've said last chapter, SA will be discontinued after SA #020: Revelation if I saw absolutely no hope for this thing, and I predicted an 85% discontinuation rate. And I also said that in the off chance that SA is updated (which it has), then it'll continue until the second intermission scene and stop there. It's definitely possible to continue after that mark (Intermission Scene Part 2 is right in the middle of SA's storyline), but I said I almost guaranteed that SA never would. That, I have yet to decide. But I predict a 99% chance that SA will stop there permanently. But in the off chance it continues… We'll see.**

**Wow. Lots of reviews last chapter… it actually surpassed the expected review count (per chapter) I determined back in SA #005; a mark that hasn't been reached since SA #008, and before that, SA #004. See, if this kind of thing happened frequently, I never would've considered in cancelling SA. But alas, it did not, and the thought of cancelling SA will always remain. Though I'm not sure if I see any hope for SA yet, the previous chapter met the standards I've set for it. As a result, SA will continue until the second intermission scene. I'll decide the cancellation of SA based on the results of the individual chapters starting from this one to the intermission.**

**And to be perfectly clear, if SA is cancelled, only the 2 remaining faithful reviewers are going to find out what was supposed to happen. No one else. You can PM me review all you want. If you're not a faithful reviewer, then too bad. There have been a total of 21 SA chapters (20 main story + 1 intermission) so far, discounting this one. There have been **_**plenty**_** of chances to become a faithful reviewer. The previous poll's secret question will only be revealed to them too. Copying a quote from a game series (whose quotes have appeared all over the place already, some modified slightly to fit the situation), **_**"That secret dies with the rest."**_

**Based on the current outline, SA's originally planned end (aka, the conclusion) is set to be on SA #040. It used to be on SA #064, but I decided that 64 chapters in SA was completely unnecessary and way too damn long. Which means, this chapter is the beginning of the second half of SA. I don't know how much of the second half will be posted, but… we'll see. Some of you would prefer that they all get uploaded. Some of you would rather see SA be cancelled, and a vast majority of you don't seem to care.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 21: Quarantine Zone<p>

August 16th, 9:30 am, Viridian City…

Platinum woke up from her sleep due to a slight commotion directly outside her room. She opened her eyes and soon spotted Diamond dozing off on a chair beside her bed.

"Diamond?" she called.

Diamond snapped awake and gave her a tired smile. "Hi, Lady."

Platinum carefully sat up. "Diamond, when did you return?"

"A few hours ago," Diamond replied. "I was supposed to let you know that Gold and Crystal had returned from their mission and everything that happened so far. And I was supposed to tell you that I had a new mission. But it was in the middle of the night and you were fast asleep, so I didn't wake you."

Platinum glanced at the door, as she could still hear some argument directly outside her room. "Diamond, could you please go and find out what the commotion is about?"

"Sure." The Sinnoh boy was about to get to his feet when the door opened and Green appeared in the doorway.

"Platinum," he started. "Do you mind if Blue stays here for a while?"

"Of course not. But senior, I do not understand what you mean," Platinum replied.

Green didn't reply and instead, stepped aside and let a doctor push a small bed into the room. Platinum gasped in shock when she saw Blue lying motionless on the bed.

"What happened?" Diamond asked.

The two Sinnoh Dex Holders listened intently as Green explained what happened on One Island. Diamond occasionally interrupted so that he may explain to Platinum about the results of Gold and Crystal's mission, which led to the destruction of One Island.

"If the Unown are being transformed, then…" Platinum gasped. "Solaceon Town! If the Unown spreads out, then my father could be in danger!"

"What about your mother?" Diamond asked.

"My mother is in Hoenn. I do not have to worry about her, as nothing happened to her during the Groudon and Kyogre incident in which seniors Ruby and Sapphire were involved with several years ago. My mother had been in Hoenn since before the event and returned long after its conclusion yet nothing happened. But my father…"

"Don't worry, Lady," Diamond assured. "Before I came here, I called Miss Cynthia. I told her about the Unown and that Solaceon Town needs to be quarantined. Your father is safe. Nothing bad will happen. I promise."

Platinum looked at him and gave him a faint smile. "If you say so, then I trust you."

Diamond suddenly appeared a little guilty. "Lady, I'm really sorry. I want to stay with you and make sure you're safe, but… I do have a new mission. I have to go with Pearl and our… _junior_ and search for talented trainers who are willing to help us fight ShadowNet."

"Oh…" Platinum muttered. Her smile had faded and Diamond felt terrible. She took his hand and gave a light squeeze. "Be careful."

Once Diamond left, Platinum turned to look at Green, who was staring through the window in deep thought. The heiress looked at Blue's unconscious body and wondered when her senior would wake up. She recalled hearing from Red and Green about a similar event years ago, in which Blue fainted when her parents were kidnapped right in front of her just before their tearful reunion which was 11 years in the making.

But this time, Blue's parents were dead, and she saw her parents' scorched bodies crumble apart. Platinum shuddered. If something like that happened to her…

"Senior Green?"

"What?"

"This… Unown virus… we will be able to stop it, will we not?"

"Yes… we will." Green glanced at Blue one last time before he headed outside. "Platinum, take care of Blue. Let me know when she wakes up."

"Yes, senior."

…

Pallet Town…

…

Red gathered his team and cleared his throat. "Alright, listen up. We're going to Johto and mount a rescue effort. Gold and Sapphire, you're going into Violet City. Try to avoid attention and find Ruby. Black, you're going to meet up with some of the Gym Leaders and make sure no Unown or any of the controlled people get out of Violet City. I'll be going to the Ruins of Alph and make sure nothing gets out."

Sapphire sent out her Tropius and hopped on. She didn't wait for her seniors and simply got the Fruit Pokémon to head to Violet City. She would find Ruby… no matter what.

Gold climbed on top of 'his' Ho-oh. Seeing how his entire Pokémon team was lost at sea (a fact that he did not like to think about), he had no choice.

The moment Red's team left for Johto, Green arrived at Prof. Oak's lab. He quickly entered the lab and gathered the remaining Dex Holders. Only four remained out of the total of 15.

Green sat on a chair and got Crystal to explain the current situation. According to her, Team Rocket had majority of its grunts patrolling the entire southern coastline of Kanto with a bulk of its forces in Cinnabar Island in order to stop the Unown virus from coming onto the Kanto mainland. Lt. Surge was guarding the Vermillion harbor to make sure no ship from the Sevii Islands docked without a thorough (_very_ thorough) inspection. But in case the Unown virus found a way to sneak past the Rocket security, Sabrina had positioned herself in Fuchsia City so that she may detect the abnormal psychic energy the transformed Unown exerted.

The Johto Gym Leaders have reported that all of the ShadowNet forces have retreated to and around Violet City. The Gym Leaders and the Elite Four were positioned around them, guarding key intersections in case they spread out again.

"What about Hoenn and Sinnoh?" Green asked.

"The cooperating Gym Leaders and Elite Four members of Sinnoh are circling Solaceon Town while the champion scans the individual cities and towns," Crystal answered. "Although Solaceon Town is reported to be overrun with the transformed Unown, so far, none of them have even tried to escape the town. As for Hoenn, the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four have managed to contact the Frontier Brains and together, captured all the ShadowNet forces there. They said that they'll be sending a ship containing a group of volunteers who'll come to our aid."

"Where are the other Dex Holders?"

"Red, Gold, Sapphire, and Black left for Johto. They're staging a rescue for Ruby. Platinum's still at the hospital in Viridian. Dia, Pearl, and White left to find some other talented trainers who'll be able to help us. Silver and Ruby are… missing, and we don't know what happened to them. And Blue left with you to One Island and…"

"She's at the hospital with Platinum," Green said. "Her parents are dead. Burnt to death in their home. Blue saw their bodies crumble and fainted."

Yellow put a hand over her mouth. "How awful…"

Green rose to his feet. "This is what we're going to do. Just because things have turned from bad to worse, it doesn't mean we should sit around and do nothing. Yellow, go and read Lugia's mind. That thing is a Psychic type. It'll be able to see a lot of things that haven't been sighted yet and knowing what it sees could help us greatly. Emerald, you're going to create some replacement headsets for Black, White, and Crystal. Crystal, you and I are going to work on a little research project along with my grandfather, Bill, sis, and Professor Elm." He looked over at Crystal, who appeared quite worried. "And Crystal?"

"Yes?"

"On my way back from One Island, I spotted Gold's Typhlosion and your Xatu protecting all of your belongings. I put the Pokémon in Viridian City's Pokémon Center to recover and the bags next to the front door of the lab. So if we have time during our research project, see if Gold's headset still works and pick up your Pokémon."

"Really? You found them?" Crystal exclaimed happily. "Oh, I was so worried! That's great! Too bad Gold left without knowing that his Pokémon are safe…"

"We'll let him know once his mission's complete."

…

Route 37, 10 am…

…

Morty sensed something… a presence that he had not felt since the Gym Leader Exhibition match years ago…

A shadow of a giant Pokémon suddenly passed him and he looked up. Instantly, he could feel his lifelong ambition slowly coming to life. Ho-oh! It was finally here! He had finally found it! He chased it with all his might. He wasn't going to let it escape his sights that easily!

"Hey Morty, isn't that Ho-oh?" Falkner asked as he followed his fellow Gym Leader.

"Yes it is!" Morty yelled. He snatched a Pokéball from him. "I'm borrowing this for a second!"

"Hey, what the?!" Falkner yelled as Morty sent out _his_ Skarmory and hopped on. "I can arrest you for that! You just robbed a police officer!"

Morty ignored him and got the Skarmory to chase Ho-oh. "Ho-oh! Wait!" he yelled out.

The Rainbow Pokémon seemed to have heard and slowed down so that the Skarmory could catch up. As Morty approached his lifelong dream, he was shocked to see someone riding it.

"Hey, Ghost Buster!" Gold yelled from 'his' Ho-oh. "Like my new ride?"

"You have got to be kidding me!" Morty yelled. "You found Ho-oh again?"

"Sure. As a Dex Holder, these kinds of things are inevitable!" Gold yelled back. "A lowly Gym Leader like yourself can only dream of these things! Being a Dex Holder kicks ass!"

"… Can I join?" Morty asked.

Gold laughed. "Nah. You're way too old! Anyways, I have an important task to do, so bye!" He tapped Ho-oh and pointed towards the Sprout Tower in Violet City. "Ho-oh, away!"

Morty got 'his' Skarmory to head back to where Falkner was with a sullen expression. "So this is what Eusine felt when Suicune chose Crystal, huh?" he grumbled. "Lucky Dex Holders…"

…

10:30 am, Violet City…

…

Sapphire peeked through a bush into the center of Violet City. So far, no one was in sight. Since the city was abandoned, the only people she expected to find were bad guys. No civilians would have remained. There were lots and lots of those controlled civilians mindlessly wandering around, but the transformed Unown were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps they were hiding in buildings? Gold and Crystal had seen them at night, but at the moment, it was broad daylight.

Sapphire did her best to scan every one of those controlled civilians from afar, hoping that she would be able to find Ruby soon. She couldn't see clearly from the bushes. She needed to get somewhere higher for a better view.

Sapphire ran from the bush and climbed onto a tree. Remaining hidden behind the thick leaves, she scanned around. Soon, she could see a group of 7 people gathered near the lake near the Sprout Tower. Sapphire narrowed her eyes and scanned them. They appeared to be ShadowNet grunts…

As Sapphire began to wonder what ShadowNet was doing in a quarantined city, the thick branch she sitting on shook violently, as if something heavy landed on it. The Hoenn Dex Holder looked back and was surprised to see one of the controlled civilians growling at her. The controlled civilian lashed out at her and Sapphire had no choice but to jump off the tree and into the open.

The civilian jumped after her with another creepy growl. Sapphire tracked the oncoming body and delivered a jump kick before it landed. But even as she was landing, she saw dozens of more of them flooding towards her direction.

'_Oh no… more of them. Forget stealth! Assault!_' Sapphire sent out her Aggron and Blaziken. "Don't kill them. Just disable them!" she ordered as she struggled to keep the first controlled civilian down on the ground.

At the same time, Gold looked down from the top of the Sprout Tower. He could see Sapphire getting surrounded in the distance. She didn't seem to be in danger though. The swarm of Unown infected people were unable to harm the girl at all, since the girl herself was fighting so ferociously and her Pokémon were protecting her from behind. But the 7 ShadowNet grunts from the lakeside seemed to have heard the commotion, as they were rushing towards Sapphire…

Gold reached for his Pokégear but then realized that he didn't have it, as it was still in his bag. All of his Pokémon were in his bag too, along with his headset. Meaning, at the moment, he had no way of warning Sapphire, any other Dex Holder, or even help fight the enemy. He did have Ho-oh in a Pokéball, but… he wasn't sure if it was going to obey him in combat. It was hard enough to convince it to enter a Pokéball in the first place. But Gold shook away his doubt. He might as well try using Ho-oh.

As the Johto Dex Holder began to find his way downstairs, he felt a shiver run down his spine. There was something there. Something… hidden. Since the Sprout Tower was too small for Ho-oh to fight inside, Gold took his billiard cue and prepared himself. He slowly and carefully walked towards the staircase, keeping his eyes and ears alert. Suddenly he heard something. Some kind of scratching noise…

Gold followed the sound and soon came across a small room in the corner of the current floor. The room appeared to be a storage room of sorts. Perhaps it stored all the necessary equipment to clean the place once every now and then. The scratching noise was faint, but it was definitely coming from the other side of the door. Gold held his billiard cue tight and opened the door. Instantly, he wished that he didn't. There were hundreds of the transformed Unown hiding there, avoiding the sunlight. Even as Gold turned to run, the Unown swarmed him and one of them latched onto his face…

Back in the center of Violet City, Sapphire took cover behind her Aggron and peeked around. The ShadowNet grunts and their Pokémon were to her left while the swarm of infected people was to her right. In order to deal with both groups, Sapphire got her Blaziken and Aggron to fight ShadowNet while the remainder of her team dealt with the infected civilians. She still wasn't in any danger, as the ShadowNet grunts… sucked. Their standard issue Pokémon basically had no battle experience whatsoever, and the grunts didn't seem to know what they were doing.

"Team Leader, we're going to lose if you don't intervene!" one of the grunts suddenly yelled.

'_There's a leader?_' Sapphire thought to herself.

She noticed a shadow of a Pokémon suddenly fly past her. She turned to prepare for another enemy, but upon seeing the Pokémon, gasped in shock and started to tremble. She was looking at her worst nightmare… Salamence. Scenes from that dreaded event many years ago started to flash across her mind. Getting attacked by a Salamence, watching Ruby fight it, watching him get hit by a Dragon Claw in the process…

Sapphire tried to focus on the ensuing battle but couldn't. When the Salamence roared, she gasped and stumbled backwards. The Dragon type Pokémon charged at her with Dragon Claw, and instead of swiftly jumping out of the way, she simply dropped to the ground, using her arms to protect her head. Suddenly, she heard a loud thud and felt the ground shake. She looked up and saw the Salamence look straight at her. She backed away at the intimidating glare…

"_Look, I've chased away the Salamence!"_

"…_Scary… so scary…"_

'_Scary…_' Sapphire looked up at the Salamence. She remembered her vow after the first Salamence event. '_I must get stronger… I must learn to protect myself and the others…_' She clenched her hands into fists as determination ran through her veins. '_Yes, I can beat this. I can win… I have to… for Ruby!_' "Chaka, Blast Burn!" she yelled out as she rolled away from the Salamence.

"Hydro Cannon."

Sapphire jumped in surprise as her Blast Burn was neutralized by the Hydro Cannon. There were only four people who knew Hydro Cannon (five if Platinum learned), and all of them were on her side… She looked at where the Hydro Cannon came from. She could see… Swampert…

"Zuzu?" she muttered in disbelief. She quickly looked around and soon froze. The ShadowNet team leader, standing behind the horribly weak grunts, wearing a ghastly white mask, was… "Ruby?"

Ruby pointed at her. Sapphire turned around just to see the Salamence swing its tail at her head with Iron Tail…

The moment Sapphire hit the ground, all her Pokémon stopped fighting. They all gathered towards their trainer in a protective stance. Ruby sent out his entire team and surrounded Sapphire's Pokémon while the ShadowNet grunts dealt with the remaining infected people.

"Get back inside your Pokéballs," Ruby coldly ordered Sapphire's Pokémon. "Unless you want Sapphire to die in battle."

Sapphire's Pokémon glared at Ruby but appeared to be in panic. After several seconds of glaring, they all hesitantly entered their Pokéballs and Ruby returned all of his Pokémon.

"Team leader, what should we do?" one of the grunts asked.

"Take her," Ruby simply commanded.

He soon walked away and the ShadowNet grunts followed, dragging Sapphire behind them. But while walking away, Ruby couldn't help but cast a couple of worried looks at the girl's unconscious body…

…

Several hours later, 8 pm, Pallet Town…

…

Crystal sighed again as she stared as the readings on her laptop with a faraway look. Even though she was supposed to focus on a particular research project, she couldn't help but worry about Gold. He had left on a dangerous mission in Violet City, of all places, with nothing but a Ho-oh. Sure, the Rainbow Pokémon was ridiculously powerful, but in close quarters, it wouldn't be much of a help. Plus, there was a risk that Ho-oh's attack would burn Gold too.

"Crystal, what's wrong?" Emerald asked from behind.

Crystal snapped out of her thoughts and looked at her junior. "Oh… nothing."

"It doesn't sound like nothing," the Hoenn Dex Holder said. "You don't sigh ten times within a minute for absolutely no reason."

Crystal sighed again. "I'm just… really worried about Gold. He left without his Pokémon. He's in danger of running into the Unown virus and ShadowNet forces at the same time and he can't defend himself."

"What about Ho-oh?"

"It's too big. It won't be much help in confined places. But the bigger problem is that Gold has no way of calling for help. We can't communicate with him at all because his headset and Pokégear are not on him."

"Why are you so worried about him, anyways?" Emerald asked. "He's not completely alone over there, and you know he can take care of himself."

Crystal looked slightly embarrassed. "On that ship on the way to Seven Island, he came to my help and took care of me because he thought I was in danger. I just feel that I should return the favor."

"What are you two continuously talking about?" Green asked as he opened the door to the room with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Green, I need to go to Violet City to help Gold," Crystal said as she rose to her feet. "I think he's in trouble and I need to go help him."

Green stared at his junior's eyes for a second before he turned to leave. "No. Your priority is to finish the research project."

"Please, Green," Crystal said as she grabbed her senior's wrist. "What would you do if you knew Blue was in serious trouble?"

Green stopped in his tracks. He thought for a few seconds before he lowered his head and sighed. "Very well then. Go."

"Oh, thank you."

"Crystal, if you're going, then I'm coming with you!" Emerald said as he jumped to his feet.

"I'm sorry, Emerald," Crystal said. "But you need to take my place and work on the research project.

"But-" the Hoenn Dex Holder tried to object, but Crystal didn't allow him.

"Don't worry about me, Emerald. I'll be fine."

"Fine…" Emerald grumbled. He sat back down on his chair. "Good luck."

Green temporarily gave his Charizard to Crystal so that she may get to Viridian City Pokémon Center and get her Pokémon as quickly as possible. Crystal took one of the new completed headsets and after a bow to Green, left the lab.

…

Two hours later, 10 pm, Violet City…

…

Crystal carefully scanned the ground below while still holding onto her Xatu high in the air. After retrieving her Pokémon (and Gold's) in Viridian City Pokémon Center and returning her senior's Charizard, Crystal had tried to contact Red so that she could find out exactly where Gold was. But for some reason, Red didn't answer his headset. Perhaps he was sleeping? It was starting get late…

Crystal then tried to contact Sapphire, but also couldn't manage. She was getting worried, so she stopped by Route 31 where Black, Falkner, and Morty were stationed. According to them, the transformed Unown tried to escape Violet City through the route, but were stopped before they flooded through. They also had some bad news, mainly that they lost contact with both Red and Sapphire a while ago. Crystal asked them the whereabouts of Gold and Morty said that the goggled boy was last seen heading towards the Sprout Tower. And as such, Crystal headed towards the famed Violet City's attraction. She reported her findings to Green with her headset so that the Gym Leader may think of a plan to save Red and Sapphire, and even Gold and herself if she failed in her task.

From the air, Crystal looked at the Sprout Tower. It still appeared perfectly normal. The transformed Unown still flooded around the streets below, so Crystal decided to find a way into the Sprout Tower without getting to close to ground level. As she learned on Seven Island, the transformed Unown preferred to stay close to the ground and had their flight capabilities rather hindered.

Soon, Crystal found a large opening on the roof of the Sprout Tower. She carefully landed on the roof and returned her Xatu. From the bright moonlight, Crystal could see into the large opening. It seemed that the opening led to the very top floor of the Sprout Tower. Given the appearance of the opening and the floor below, it was clear that the opening was a collapsed portion of the roof of the tower, probably caused by the initial ShadowNet attack on the city a while back.

Crystal looked into the center of Violet City. She could see all the destroyed houses in the distance along with the remnants of the Gym and Earl's Academy. And in the streets, the Unown infected people aimlessly wandered around, some smashing into houses for absolutely no reason. Seeing the horrid state of her hometown brought tears to Crystal's eyes. She sat on the roof of the Sprout Tower and simply stared ahead. She longed for the day when everything would return to normal and her hometown would be rebuilt. One day… One day, the professors would figure out a way to reverse the Unown infection. One day, ShadowNet would be defeated. Crystal could only hope that the day would come soon.

The Johto Dex Holder wiped away her tears and climbed down onto the top floor of the Sprout Tower. She carefully and quietly crept around, looking for Gold. Though the chances of the goggled boy still remaining in the Sprout Tower were slim, it was worth a search.

Before long, Crystal found herself looking down the hallway whose windows overlooked the entire city of Violet. But at the end of the hall…

"Gold?"

The goggled boy spun around and the moment he saw her, charged straight for her. When he came closer, Crystal could see what happened to him via the moonlight. The transformed Unown had gotten to him… The Unown had created an exoskeleton with its psychic powers which covered pretty much all of Gold's body except half of his face, and formed three long tentacles on his left arm, seemingly sprouting from the forearm. The controlled Gold lashed out at her. Crystal had seen the strength of one of the infected people back in Seven Island and knew that Gold was definitely capable of killing her without any effort.

Crystal quickly ducked and rolled out of the way of the three tentacles. "Gold, what happened to you?"

In that instant, Gold grabbed his left arm so that the tentacles would not hit Crystal. Seeing the goggled boy fight, Crystal carefully approached him. Only the right side of his face was visible and she could see the pain and panic in his visible eye.

"Come on, Gold. Fight! I know you can win!"

But Gold seemed to have lost control and ended up aiming a punch at her. The attack was too fast and Crystal didn't have any time to dodge. The punch hit her on the left shoulder and knocked her down to the floor. Crystal clutched her injured shoulder and forced herself to rise to her feet. She couldn't move her left arm. The punch may have broken a bone… But she reached up to her headset and pressed a button. Now, everything she said would be transmitted to every Dex Holder whose headset was on… assuming they heard the static emitted and pressed the button to receive…

"Ungh… Gold… please… fight!" Crystal yelled out as she backed away. "You… you said it yourself that you'd never hurt me. Do you remember?"

Gold's visible eye shut. It appeared that he was thinking that he would be unable to hit her if he couldn't see her at all. Unfortunately, he was wrong. Gold swung his left arm at her. Crystal quickly tried to jump out of the way. But the tentacles were a little too long and they ended up striking her right leg hard. Crystal instantly felt three distinct snaps in her leg and screamed. She took a quick glance at her leg and noticed that the bones have shattered in three places… She clutched at her horribly misshapen leg with her good arm. Crystal found the pain absolutely unbearable and screamed despite her best efforts to remain silent. She wasn't able to scream for long though, as the controlled Gold started to choke her with his right hand.

Crystal gasped for air and tried to release the grip her close friend had on her throat. Unfortunately, the controlled Gold was way too strong. Before long, Crystal lost strength and her hand slipped off of Gold's. But for some reason, Gold lifted her off the ground and smashed her into the wall. He then let go of her throat, giving her precious seconds to breathe. Crystal quickly refilled her lungs with air. Her body was stuck in the wall and the excruciating pain made it impossible to move. She looked at Gold once more before closing her eyes. She understood why Gold smashed her into the wall, even though he could've just choked her to death or even snapped her neck. Gold was still fighting… he was trying to save her from himself. And Crystal understood what needed to be done.

"G – Gold…" she gasped out. "I… I was right… I've never really thought about it, but… You _will_ be the death of me…"

Gold seemed to freeze temporarily. Even though he was being controlled by the rampaging Unown, Crystal's words still affected him greatly. He could see the tears falling from her eyes and he felt a tear of his own falling from his visible eye. He tried to say something but all that came out was a menacing growl.

He could feel it. The Unown was forcing his left hand to strike at Crystal's head. He couldn't let that happen. He fought with everything he had. He wasn't going to let Crystal be killed. Luckily for him though, it appeared that the Unown that infected him was… weaker than the others. Gold still had some control over himself. At times, the Unown would try to gain full control and he had to fight over his own body. Right now, he was losing the fight. Before long, there would be a lapse in his efforts and Crystal would be killed. There was exactly one thing he could do.

'_Crys! I know you can't hear me, but… I'm sorry. I love you, Crys. I always have… But I have no other choice. I hope you understand!_'

Just milliseconds before the tentacles on his left arm could hit and kill Crystal, he punched her on the chest to smash her through the damaged wall of the Sprout Tower. The moment Crystal's body disappeared from his sight, the Unown stopped trying to control him. Gold took a few seconds to calm himself. Once he was satisfied that he had almost full control over his own body, he approached the smashed opening in the wall and looked down. His only hope at the moment was that Crystal hit the lake that covered a big portion of Violet City and survived. If she didn't, then given her current health, it was almost certain that she did not survive.

But to his horror, when Gold looked down through the gap in the wall, he could see absolutely no ripples or waves from the calm lake. The reflection of the moon was perfectly calm and immobile. If Crystal hit the lake, then there would have been a big splash, given the height of the Sprout Tower, and the reflection of the moon would be distorted from the ripples and waves caused by the splash. But no… the lake was perfectly calm… there have been absolutely no disturbances…

There was exactly one thought that ran through Gold's mind before he blacked out from shock.

'_I killed Crys…_'

* * *

><p><strong>Current Dex Holder KIAMIA list: Red, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire.**

**The very first preview scene of SA from SE, the third preview scene, and SE #003: Memory Loss has appeared in SA. This chapter was the source of those scenes. However, this chapter shows the preview scene 1's event in Crystal's perspective, and the shattered leg and tentacles on the arm are on the opposite limb. Also, some stuff have been added. Now, I do believe that this leaves the original SA version of SE #016: Distress, if SA continues until that point.**

**Some of you may wonder if ShadowNet will last until SA #040 (or #039), as they seem to be the main enemy, yet they… suck. But that is simply your speculation. I never recall saying that ShadowNet is the **_**only**_** enemy in SA. There have been 6 instances so far that shows that ShadowNet won't be the final enemy. Just wait…**


	23. SAI 2 It Followed Me Home

**I feel that I may need to clarify/explain this a little more… There is a difference between a faithful reviewer and a faithful reader. For faithful readers, there is no way for me to know whether they read the latest chapters or not, or even whether they really are faithful or not. For the reviewers, that is different. I can check. Now, I thank both faithful reviewers and readers. The latter will be thanked a hell of a lot more if they become the former.**

**Anyways, I assume many of you want to know what happened to Crystal (unless you don't care, in which case… I can't really say anything, now can I?), and even Red, Gold, Ruby, and Sapphire. And you'll find out in this chapter! … I'm sorry, that's a lie. It wouldn't have been a lie if this chapter was a part of SA's storyline.**

**What do I mean? I mean… here comes the second part of the SA intermission. I told you that the second intermission scene was close… And since this is the second intermission scene, I suggest you go back and reread the first one. And given the current state of SA, it's entirely possible that this is the very last chapter. What happened to Crystal? You may never find out… except for 3 of you (it's 3 again now).**

**This chapter features the Dex Holders vs. anime characters battles. And to be clear, it's not like I hate the anime. I just don't like the idiot that appears in every season.**

**And as mentioned a while ago, around the first intermission, the character fates of SA and SA Intermissions aren't related. Blue's parents aren't in crispy pieces, Silver's not… whatever happened, Crystal's clearly perfectly fine, Ruby's not one of **_**them**_**, and etc.**

* * *

><p>Intermission Part 2: It Followed Me Home<p>

ShadowNet Johto HQ, Goldenrod City…

Crystal and Platinum reactivated the inter-dimensional portal. They still had no idea how to reverse it, and none of the low ShadowNet grunts even knew about the portal to start with. So the two Dex Holders decided that if all else failed, one volunteer Dex Holder would be tied with a rope and be sent through the portal and…

The portal suddenly widened and Green, Blue, Gold, Sapphire, and the tied up ShadowNet commander appeared.

"Ugh… I'll never get used to that," Blue muttered as she slowly rose to her feet.

"Well, at least we're back!" Sapphire exclaimed. She looked over at Platinum. "You _are_ rookie, right?"

"Um… that is your nickname for me, senior Sapphire," the heiress replied.

"Hey, Super Serious Gal, did you miss me?" Gold asked with a grin.

'_Well… maybe just a little…_' "No," Crystal replied resolutely.

"Aw, don't be like that, Crys! I know you missed me!"

Crystal sighed. "Gold, before you go on about your wild theories, I suggest you get off the portal machine. You don't want to be sucked into another dimension while I _accidentally_ destroy the machine, now do you?"

Green, Blue, Gold, and Sapphire stepped off the ShadowNet device and shoved the ShadowNet commander to the floor. Soon, Falkner arrived along with a handful of Johto Gym Leaders and took the commander away. The Dex Holders were beginning to file out of the ShadowNet armory when the inter-dimensional portal flared up. Green glanced back at it and saw a hand slowly forming out of the portal… and a Pikachu.

Green sighed. "There could be some complications…"

Blue glanced over at Green, then at the portal. "Oh…" She sighed as well as the four people she saw in the other dimension fell out of the portal. "Looks like they followed us home…"

The boy with the Pikachu looked up at the two Dex Holders. "… You forgot our battle…"

…

An hour later, Goldenrod City Pokémon Center…

…

Blue, Gold, and Sapphire finished explaining to the other Dex Holders about their trip to the other dimension and their encounters. Green simply stood leaning against the wall, lost in thought.

Diamond looked back and forth Platinum and her counterpart. It was just… odd. Similarly, Ruby looked back and forth between Sapphire and her counterpart, awed by the massive differences despite similar appearances.

"Anyways!" the boy with the Pikachu yelled, interrupting everyone. "I came here because I wanted to battle you guys!"

Green turned to look at Crystal and Platinum. "What's the current situation with ShadowNet?"

"The Gym Leaders and a large group of volunteers are attacking the ShadowNet's main HQ in-"

"Hey! Stop ignoring me and let's battle!" Satoshi yelled again.

Gold approached him with a vein bulging from his forehead. "Alright… I'll battle you. Since you _clearly_ don't know how to determine the importance of various matters, I'll-"

"Oh, sure. Since you _clearly_ know how to do that," Crystal said sarcastically.

Gold looked over at her with a baffled look. "… Whose side are you on?" Crystal didn't answer so Gold shook his head and looked at Satoshi again. "Anyways… I'll take you on. One on one, man (points to himself) to boy (points to Satoshi)." For further mockery, he took out his fully extended billiard cue and a toothpick from his bag. "Man," he said, pointing to his billiard cue. He then pointed at the toothpick. "To boy."

Blue and Crystal saw the insult coming and had covered Yellow and Platinum's eyes to prevent their minds from getting tainted by the awful implications. White looked away on her own, leaving Sapphire to stare blankly at her senior, wondering what he meant. Crystal smacked Gold on the back of the head.

"Ow! Hey, what the hell!" Gold yelled.

"Can't you make some _appropriate_ insults when our juniors are around?"

"Wait, that was an insult?!" Satoshi yelled angrily. The Dex Holders (and even Haruka) all looked at him as if he was an idiot. "… What?"

Gold sighed and shook his head. "Whatever… let's just battle."

The group soon arrived at a suitable battleground. Gold and Satoshi took their places in the center while the spectators sat on the grass in the shade cast by various trees. But Green didn't sit and instead, walked up to Gold. The goggled boy took out a Pokéball and prepared to throw.

"Alright, Expl-" But Gold was cut off by Green who forcefully yanked him off the battleground by the back of his shirt. "Hey!"

"I'll take him on," Green said calmly.

"But… he's mine! I said that from the other dimension!" Gold argued.

Green cast him a deadly look and Gold flinched. "Do you have a problem with this?"

"N – No sir!" Gold yelled out.

"Then sit down and wait your turn."

The goggled boy quickly ran over to the shade and sat beside Crystal, who was busy laughing at him.

Green sent out his Rhyperior. Satoshi sent out… his Pikachu. Green approached the Drill Pokémon and whispered his plan. Soon, the battle started.

"Pearl, could you quietly tell us what senior Green's Rhyperior and the opponent's Pikachu are going to do?" Platinum asked quietly so that she won't interrupt the battle.

"Alright," Pearl said equally quietly. "Uh… Pikachu's going to use Thunderbolt, but Rhyperior doesn't look like it's going to do anything."

As predicted, the Pikachu used Thunderbolt. The Rhyperior seemed to have taken quite a bit of damage as it staggered backwards. White looked rather confused. To her understanding, Rhyperior should not have taken any damage whatsoever. She considered in getting Black to use his Munna to clear his mind in order to figure out what just happened, but decided not to, as the scene would distract and interrupt the battle. She simply watched, hoping to get some explanation afterwards.

Seeing the effect of Thunderbolt, Satoshi ordered his Pikachu to continue. The Rhyperior kept staggering from the attacks, unable to do anything. The Dex Holders looked rather confused, except Red and Blue, who realized what their friend was doing. They decided to remain silent so their juniors could figure out what was going on by themselves.

"Alright, Pikachu! Let's finish this with Iron Tail!" Satoshi ordered after a minute of continuous Thunderbolt.

The Pikachu dashed towards Rhyperior and swung its iron-hard tail at it. But the Drill Pokémon caught the Mouse Pokémon's tail and rendered it harmless.

"Earth Power," Green ordered calmly.

The Rhyperior slammed Pikachu into the ground and blasted it with full powered Earth Power, knocking it out within a second. Satoshi looked really surprised, as he thought that he was winning. Green returned his perfectly-fine Rhyperior and turned to face his juniors.

"Can anyone tell me what I did?"

"Being a jerk and stealing my battle, that's what," Gold grumbled silently so that the Gym Leader wouldn't hear.

A few Dex Holders raised their hands, but Green waited until one of the Unova Dex Holders raised their hand. He was going to give the newest members the first try. Black didn't respond as his mind was still focused on his dreams of beating the Pokémon League and one day, challenging Red for a battle. Seeing how her friend's mind didn't seem to be responding, White raised a hand.

"Um… your Rhyperior is slower than Pikachu, so you waited until it came close on its own so that the Earth Power would hit," she said after a short moment of thought.

"And?"

"And… Rhyperior is immune to Thunderbolt, so you made it pretend to be damaged by it so the opponent would keep using it."

"Good. Anything else?"

White thought some more, but couldn't think of anything else. Platinum saw the opportunity and raised a hand.

"Your Rhyperior is immune to Thunderbolt as mentioned, and you purposely tricked the opponent to keep using it. I believe that was because of your Rhyperior's Ability, Lightningrod. Each time it receives an Electric attack, not only does it take no damage, but its Special Attack is raised from the electric current. Which was why Earth Power did so much damage. It is already a powerful attack, further boosted by the same Ground typing of Rhyperior, even more boosted by the Special Attack increase from Lightningrod, affecting an Electric type Pikachu, which is weak to Ground type attacks."

"Very good," Green said with a satisfied look.

Platinum continued. "And by having your Rhyperior pretend to be weak, your opponent became careless. Anyone who is careless in battle is destined to lose."

Green nodded. "Excellent. You learned a lot more since our last battle."

The heiress gave a polite bow. "Thank you very much, senior."

"Wow! That was incredible!" White said to Platinum. "You figured all that out all by yourself that quickly?"

Platinum looked over at her older junior and smiled. "Yes. I have seen senior Green battle several times and I can recognize his plans based on what he is doing. Of course, my predictions are not always accurate, as his skills are still leagues ahead of mine."

Once Green sat on the grass beside Blue, Gold jumped to his feet. "Alright! My turn!"

"Hey, hold on!" Red yelled. "I want a shot this time."

Gold groaned. "Oh, come on!" But he had no choice but to let his senior go first. As Red walked up towards the battlefield, Gold looked over at Blue with a sigh. "Senior Blue, do _you_ want to battle that guy next? Apparently I can't battle him until all of my seniors get a piece of him first."

Before Blue could answer, Takeshi appeared right in front of her, kneeling on the ground while holding both her hands.

"My lady, could you please show us your undoubtedly beautiful battling talents?"

Blue rolled her eyes and was about to call Silver when the Johto Dex Holder appeared out of nowhere with a deadly look in his face. His Weavile already had its claws on Takeshi's throat, ready to attack on demand. Takeshi froze and Silver yanked his hands off of Blue's.

"Touch my sister again and you're _dead_," the Johto Dex Holder growled through clenched teeth.

"Thanks, Silver," Blue said with a warm smile. "And keep an eye on him. This is like the third time he's done that."

Silver nodded and sent out his Feraligatr. With his two Pokémon, he made sure that the Brock-lookalike wouldn't even look in Blue's direction. With that taken care of, Blue looked at Gold to answer his question.

"No, I'm not going to battle. After Red, why don't you let some of your juniors try?"

Gold looked baffled. "But… when am I going to battle then?"

"Probably when everyone else finish," Crystal said with a laugh. She looked at the other Dex Holders. "Hey, how many of you want to battle?"

Sapphire raised a hand. "Oh, I do! I do!"

"Hey! You already fought that Team Rocket!" Gold yelled. Silver looked alerted at the mention of Team Rocket. "Not your dad's Team Rocket," Gold quickly added.

"I want a _proper_ battle!" Sapphire yelled. "Besides, as my senior, you should surrender your battle turn and let me go first."

"But then… seniors Green and Red… Ah, whatever!" Gold yelled. "Fine. I'll be the cool guy and let you go first. Who else?! Come on, this guy apparently challenged the Pokémon League like… ten times and lost every single time!"

Black's hand immediately shot up at the mention of the Pokémon League. "I'll battle!" he yelled abruptly.

White jumped in surprise at the sudden shout and movement. "Ah! Black, I thought your brain wasn't responding."

Black looked over at her. "What, do you think my brain's like a computer or something?"

The president thought for a second. "Well… come to think of it, your mind does act like one. Your mind's always filled to the brim with thoughts of winning the Pokémon League. It's like a computer with way too many applications running at the same time. When something new opens, it takes forever for it to register. Your Munna clearing your mind of your dreams is like closing all the running applications at once. When they all close, the computer actually has spare memory allocation to focus on the newly opened program. Similarly, when your brain's clear, you can actually think and solve problems!"

"It makes perfect sense!" Crystal said from the side. "Great comparison there, White."

"Alright!" Gold yelled. "So after senior Red, Wildchild Girl's going to battle that guy, then Dream Boy. Anyone else going to steal my battle turn?" No one spoke up, so Gold sighed in relief. "Good. Then he's mine afterwards!"

Suddenly, there was a loud thud and everyone turned to look at the battlefield. The Dex Holders were surprised to see Red's Snorlax lying face-down on the ground. But before anyone could say anything, the Snorlax got back up and brushed off the dirt on its stomach. There was a Sceptile lying perfectly flattened on the ground where the Snorlax was.

"Oh…" Gold muttered. "For a second there, I thought you lost, senior Red."

"Nah," the Kanto champion said while returning his Snorlax.

"That thud was awfully loud," Blue said. "What happened?"

"I was trying to see how high Lax can jump in the air for Body Slam," Red explained. "As it turns out, not that high. But it jumped higher than I anticipated. Anyways, Sapphire, you're up."

"Alright!" the Hoenn Dex Holder exclaimed as she shot up to her feet. "This is going to be fun!"

The battle between Sapphire's Blaziken and Satoshi's Charizard began. Satoshi couldn't help but ponder over the fact that he was facing a Blaziken with his Charizard once again. The battle didn't go so well last time, but this time, he was sure that he could win. After all, he learned quite a bit about Blaziken since then.

"Fly into the air and attack from above!" Satoshi ordered.

The Charizard did as told and began attacking Blaziken with Flamethrower from high above.

"That won't stop me!" Sapphire yelled. "Chaka, Sky Uppercut!"

The Blaziken crouched down and gathered its strength. It then soared high into the air, striking the Charizard in the jaw with Sky Uppercut. The Blaziken grabbed onto Charizard to force it back down to ground level and while doing so, bombarded it with close range punches and kicks. Before hitting the ground, the Blaziken used its legs to kick off from Charizard.

"Now! Blaze Kick!" Sapphire ordered.

The Blaziken kicked the Charizard into the ground with Blaze Kick. Seeing how the Flame Pokémon wasn't able to battle anymore, Sapphire returned her Blaziken.

"No Blast Burn, huh?" Ruby said as Sapphire stepped off the battlefield.

"Nah," Sapphire said as she sat beside him. "I only use that against bad guys or in very tough battles. Anyways, Black, you're up next!"

The Unova Dex Holder hopped up to his feet as White wished him luck. But before he even took a step towards the battlefield, Satoshi stepped off.

"I think I'm done," he said with a sigh. "I don't want to battle anymore."

Gold groaned loudly. "Oh, come on! I was one freaking battle away from beating the hell out of you and you quit just like that?!" He glared at Sapphire who was laughing to the point of tears. "Oh, what are you laughing at?!"

"You!" Sapphire laughed out. "I got to fight twice and you didn't get any chance whatsoever!"

"… Can I battle you then?" Gold asked. "My Pokémon want _some_ action today…"

Sapphire stuck her tongue out. "No. I don't want to battle you today. _Maybe_ next week."

Gold gritted his teeth. He turned to look at Crystal. She shook her head once her eyes met his. Gold then looked over at Silver, who also shook his head. The same process occurred with every Dex Holder, meaning that Gold would not be able to battle anyone that day. But he decided that if he wasn't going to be able to satisfy his battle cravings that day, he might as well frustrate the hell out of the main culprit of his battle-less day (Sapphire).

Gold forced himself to calm down. "Well, Wildchild Girl, I suppose you don't want to battle me because you know I'll beat you with no effort whatsoever."

Sapphire stopped laughing. "… Say that again."

"What's there to say? You're afraid of battling me because you know you suck in comparison."

"That's a lie, and you know it!" Sapphire yelled angrily.

Blue nudged Red in the arm. "Red, are you going to do anything? They're in your team."

"Nah. It's sometimes necessary to have or even force a rivalry between teammates."

"If it's a lie, then why aren't you battling me?" Gold taunted.

Sapphire jumped up to her feet. "Let's go then!"

Gold chuckled but remained sitting. "I have no intention of tiring my Pokémon by proving a well known fact."

Sapphire gritted her teeth. "You said that you wanted to battle me!"

"I was only joking. I'd rather have a challenging battle. Like… battling seniors Red or Green."

While Gold continuously taunted the enraged Sapphire, Satoshi walked over towards his friends and sat beside them with a sullen expression.

"Don't feel too bad," Hikari said in a comforting tone. "These guys are just… way too good."

"But after everything I've been through, I thought I'd be able to put up a fight, at least," Satoshi said after a sigh.

"Maybe these guys have been through worse," Haruka said after a moment of thought. "Their Pokémon kind of seemed a little too strong given the trainers' ages."

Takeshi nodded in agreement despite still having the claws of Silver's Weavile on his throat. After a comforting smile to Satoshi, Hikari walked over towards the Dex Holders so that she may learn something about them.

"Um… excuse me," she said to Blue.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering whether you could share your experiences with us."

Blue shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that'll take way too long."

Hikari looked a little confused. "You guys all travel together, don't you? I don't think it'll take that long if you just summarize major details."

"We never traveled together," Blue answered. "We gather together every now and then during a crisis to work together, but generally, we're always apart. From my recollection, the only Dex Holders who constantly traveled together are Dia, Pearl, and Platinum. But even those three split up a couple of times for various tasks all over Sinnoh." Blue thought for a second before continuing. "But I think there is a way for you guys to learn about us without having us describe everything for hours on end."

"Oh? What's that?"

Blue turned to look at Platinum. "Platinum, do you still have your notebook with you?"

"I believe so, senior," the heiress replied as she began searching through her bag. She eventually found it and politely handed it over to her senior.

Blue look the notebook and presented it to Hikari. "Here you go. Platinum basically made a biography of every single Dex Holder because she wanted to learn as much as she could. Once she was done with the first 10 Dex Holders, Crys and I covered Dia, Pearl, and Platinum, following her template. And when Black and White joined us, Platinum recorded them in there too. So that notebook contains just about all you need to know about every single Dex Holder."

Hikari politely bowed. "Thank you very much."

"Now, we'd want to know what you've been through as well," Blue started.

"You should ask Satoshi, as everything I've been through and everything Haruka's been through are all a part of Satoshi's travels. Well, mostly, anyways."

"Ah, in that case… I'll be back in a short while."

Blue got to her feet and with her Wigglytuff and Ditto, went off somewhere. She returned 10 minutes later with her Ditto formed into a cart of some sort, carrying some type of machine. Seeing her return, Takeshi slightly leaned towards her direction and in that instant, Silver's Weavile tapped his neck with one of its claws. A warning…

"Hey everyone, can I get your attention?" Blue said as she stood in front of all the Dex Holders. Sapphire and Gold stopped yelling at each other and looked at their senior. "Okay. I think it's about time we all get to know our guests a little better. They borrowed Platinum's notebook so they'll learn about all of us and our accomplishments, so we should learn about theirs. To save time, I went back to the ShadowNet Johto HQ and brought back one of their machines. I don't know why they built one or what they were going to use it for, but ShadowNet had a machine that projects memories of a Pokémon onto a screen, kind of like a video file. So, Satoshi, if you could bring your Pikachu up here, we'll get started."

Satoshi walked towards the machine and put his Pikachu on it. '_Isn't this what that crazy mirage Pokémon guy did to Pikachu a few years back?_'

Yellow helped Blue in connecting all the necessary scanners and sensors onto Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon looked very tired from its battle…

"Pikachu still looks hurt," Hikari said from behind with a worried expression.

"That's not a problem at all," Blue said dismissively as she worked with the machine.

Satoshi was about to object when Yellow placed a hand on the Pikachu's forehead and blinked. In an instant, the Mouse Pokémon jumped up to its feet, looking perfectly healthy again.

"Wow," Hikari muttered. She looked into Platinum's notebook and spotted the heiress's entry on her senior's healing powers. "It's exactly as described…"

A couple of minutes later, the ShadowNet machine was up and running. It projected Pikachu's memories onto a large screen (Ditto), and it was powered by Black's Galvantula. The machine needed controlled electric current (so not Green's Porygon2, whose Zap Cannon is the opposite of controlled electricity), but not too strong so that the current would fry the machine inside and out (so not Red's Pikachu).

"Well, look at that," Green said as he looked at the main screen of the ShadowNet machine. "They really worked on the user interface. It's exactly like opening a video file on a computer… That certainly saves us the hassle of trying to figure this thing out."

Green moved the on screen cursor over to the file that was labeled "Pikachu". The machine could detect Pokémon species, it seemed. Green clicked on the file and a little program called "Memory Viewer" popped up and started to play Pikachu's memories, even the ones that were wiped out or forgotten.

To save time and skip the whole Pikachu-only segments (before getting caught), Green pressed the fast-forward button. As a result, though the images flashed much, much faster, so did the audio, making things slightly difficult to understand. But Green, being the superhuman that he was, heard and saw everything just enough.

Green skipped through all the unnecessary stuff (like day to day events, namely helping random people and their problems and dealing with the same Team Rocket group who kept trying to steal Pikachu) and slowed down enough during important events (Gym Battles, Pokémon League participating, Legendary encounters, etc).

Within a couple of hours, Pikachu's memories moved on to Hoenn. Green paused the Memory Viewer when Haruka's father appeared on screen.

"That's my dad," Haruka said. "He's the Gym Leader of Petalburg City," she said proudly.

Ruby looked quite surprised. "… He looks exactly the same as my dad… And he's the Gym Leader of Petalburg City too! … Although my dad, quite honestly, doesn't look that kind…"

"So… we're kind of like siblings, then!" Haruka exclaimed. "Though I already have a younger brother, I never had one from another dimension!"

Green pressed the play button on the Memory Viewer to continue. The Dex Holders watched as more of familiar looking Gym Leaders appeared at various times. There were lots of comments from Ruby and Sapphire at various scenes, ranging from "You call that a Contest?" to "Groudon and Kyogre look so weak there!".

An hour later, Pikachu's memories moved on to Sinnoh. Shortly after the Pikachu ran into Hikari (and fried a bicycle for the third time), Hikari's mother appeared on screen.

"Hey, Dia! That looks like your mom!" Pearl said in surprise.

"Yeah…"

"So we're like siblings too!" Hikari said excitedly. "I never had one before. This is so cool!"

Green kept the Memory Viewer running. And once again, there were various comments from the Sinnoh Dex Holders, ranging from "That Draco Meteor appears to be horribly inefficient," to "Dialga and Palkia didn't seem to do much over there," and even "Cyrus of your dimension is very different from the Cyrus of our dimension…".

"Alright," Green muttered as he shut off the ShadowNet device an hour later. "I have a theory on the relations of our dimension and theirs," he said to the Dex Holders. "It seems that-"

Green's theory was interrupted when a giant mechanical hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Satoshi's Pikachu. The Dex Holders and the guests all looked at where the mechanical hand retreated to and could see a giant Meowth shaped hot air balloon…

* * *

><p><strong>As mentioned somewhere, various Dex Holders' Pokémon's Movesets have been modified. Power and efficiency are the reason behind some of the changes. Rhyperior with Earth Power is not one of those cases (I'm just following the HGSS arc. If it was me, I'd have it use Earthquake instead; 100 base power compared to 90 of Earth Power and uses the 140 base Attack instead of the 55 Special Attack, and the Rhyperior itself would <strong>_**probably**_** be Adamant instead of Mild).**

**Following the previous intermission scene, this one also has a What Could Have Been that has smartass comments targeting the idiot's (lack of) intelligence in various situations. Some may view those lapses in logic as heroic plans that didn't quite work out, but… eh, whatever. I don't know why exactly the creators of the anime made the character make so many… dumbass moves, but they seem to be very proficient at it.**

**Next up in the SA intermission… After repelling a horribly weak attempt at stealing Satoshi's Pikachu yet again, the Dex Holders find that the uninvited intruders have destroyed the ShadowNet inter-dimensional portal generator. While a group of Dex Holders try to repair the device, the others scatter to their homes with some of the guests and learn that their dimensions have quite a bit in common…**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been (no conditions, 1 of 3):<p>

Green paused the ShadowNet Memory Viewer and looked over at Satoshi. "… You tried to punch Mewtwo twice in the span of 10 seconds."

"Yeah, so?"

"Did you really think that you were going to accomplish anything?"

Blue shook her head and asked another question before Satoshi answered. "Better yet, if the first punch attempt failed so miserably, what exactly made you think that the second try would do any better?"

"I… uh… I don't remember. That was a long time ago," Satoshi stammered out. "Let's just move on…"

"Fine, whatever." Green started the ShadowNet Memory Viewer and fast-forwarded. He soon paused it again after another questionable scene. "Alright. Once again, I must question your motifs and thoughts at this situation."

"Huh?"

"You're in an underwater temple that's sinking. You and Haruka are all that's left, with Pikachu and Manaphy. I understand that you were going to save the temple yourself, and I can appreciate the heroism of leaving your friends in safety while you face danger. But why did you leave Manaphy in the 'life pod'? You're underwater. Having a Water type Pokémon with you would've been greatly helpful, don't you think?"

"Manaphy was a newborn," Haruka answered instead. "It wasn't capable of doing something like saving the temple on its own. And it couldn't really leave me."

Green shook his head. "If it was capable of leading your submarine through an ocean current without you right beside it, I'm sure it would be capable of following and assisting someone in saving its own home. But fine. Let's ignore that." He looked at Satoshi again. "That 'life pod'. What were you thinking? It clearly wasn't a life pod. Life pods tend to have various propulsion systems and all sorts of controls on the inside so the user can navigate and move. But the one you locked Haruka into was clearly more of a… locker."

"So? Even though I didn't know it was a locker, at least Haruka was safe," Satoshi argued.

"What Green's getting at is… You locked Haruka in a small steel locker that sank like a rock," Sapphire said with a sigh. "If you failed in your task, what happens then?"

"Then Haruka gets out of the locker and finishes what I couldn't," Satoshi simply replied. "I really don't see the problem in this."

Haruka and Hikari shook their heads. They could see the flaw in their friend's logic. It comforted Haruka to know that the plan did succeed and she escaped her possible death.

"The locker door isn't going to open underwater, you moron," Gold said from behind. "Because of the water pressure, the door would only open underwater if enough water entered the locker. But this locker was perfectly waterproof. Once it fell below the water surface, your friend was screwed. If you failed your task, then while you would've drowned, she would've died from…"

"Asphyxiation," Crystal finished for him.

"Satoshi," Haruka said with a sigh. "Next time a problem arises and you have an idea, how about you discuss it with someone before putting in action?"

"Let's just continue," Green said as he pressed the play button on the ShadowNet machine. But he had to pause it again shortly after. "You called Palkia an idiot when it was looking at you?"

"That Palkia must've been in a good mood," Pearl said from behind. "The one in our dimension would've probably killed you."

Green shook his head and pressed the play button once more. But again, he paused it shortly after. This time, he backtracked slightly and played the memory clip in normal speed and volume.

"_I got Ma's scent!" the Zorua said through telepathy. The Pikachu and Piplup immediately began sniffing the ground to see if they could catch the scent_.

"_Really?"_ _Satoshi asked as he ran over to the Zorua. "Can you really smell it?" He then got to his knees and began sniffing the ground alongside the 3 Pokémon._

Green paused the ShadowNet Memory Viewer and looked over at Satoshi with a questioning look. Platinum took a couple of steps away from Satoshi and Diamond and Pearl stepped in, seemingly protecting the heiress from the 'weird guy'. Ruby glanced at Sapphire for a second before he shook his head as well. At least Sapphire had extremely heightened senses… But Satoshi here… what exactly was he thinking?

"Wow," Gold muttered. "You are one strange clueless kid."

* * *

><p><strong>The randomly selected Movie scenes go as follows, in order: Movie 1 (trying to punch Mewtwo twice, memory restored), Movie 9 (heroic attempt to keep Haruka from harm that's actually closer to Destiny Bond), Movie 10 (suicide attempt by insulting Palkia), and Movie 13 (sniff the ground!). There are lots more (such as attempting hand-to-hand combat with Lucario, Movie 8), but I picked only 4 to avoid continuing on forever.<strong>

**Here's another one that didn't really fit anywhere, but is too… true to ignore.**

* * *

><p>(2 of 3):<p>

"And whenever you find Legendary Pokémon fighting each other, why is it that the very first thing you always do is yell at them to stop?" Green asked. "These Pokémon are fighting because of feuds built up from centuries ago or in the case of Arceus, rage that's been building for thousands of years. Do you really expect them to stop what they were doing because of some punk kid that they never saw before is yelling at them to stop? In fact, the first thing you do when you run into anything bad such as an evil team or Pokémon fighting, is… yelling at them to stop. Do you really expect anything to happen?"

* * *

><p><strong>And for the first time ever, a WCHB fuses with a Post Ending. This is also the first time where an SA chapter has a Post Ending, which normally doesn't make sense as SA's chapters aren't standalone chapters like SESR.**

* * *

><p>(3 of 3)Post Ending:

"Watch, the first thing Satoshi's going to do is yell at them to give his Pikachu back," Blue whispered to the other Dex Holders as the boy in question stared at the Meowth shaped hot air balloon.

The hot air balloon had its back facing the sun, and even though every Dex Holder recognized the unwanted intruders as Team Rocket (from ShadowNet Memory Viewer) by silhouette, Satoshi's exceptionally slow mind didn't seem to recognize anything despite experiencing the identical event almost 900 times. He only recognized the enemy when Team Rocket insignia became visible.

Seeing Satoshi recognize the enemy, Blue started a mental countdown while all of the Dex Holders watched carefully for Satoshi's reaction.

'_3… 2… 1… and…_'

Satoshi took a deep breath before yelling. "Give Pikachu back, Team Rocket!"

* * *

><p><strong>Once again, as clearly demonstrated this chapter, I don't hate the anime. I just don't like the idiot that appears all the time without really learning or improving anything. It takes a magnificent moron to have a Pikachu lose to a Magikarp despite over a decade worth of experience. He's undoubtedly an experienced trainer, but makes rivals who <strong>_**just started**_** and loses to that new 'rival' just about every single time. And the rookie trainer who travels with him always stands on par with him near the time for them to split apart.**

**Anyways, possible impending SA cancellation, and… end of a chapter which is also the second intermission scene… Copying yet another quote from the same game series as before…**

"_**You know the music. Time to dance."**_


	24. Well Enough Alone

**After careful consideration, I've decided to continue with SA for two more chapters before I see what happens again. This is because there is a reviewer that might become faithful starting with this chapter and three more with the next one.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 22: Well Enough Alone<p>

August 16th, 11:00 pm, Viridian City…

Platinum woke up from her sleep due to a loud commotion outside. She looked at her Pokétch and slowly sat up. She was curious as to why people were making a ruckus when it was near midnight.

The heiress carefully hopped off of her bed and looked through the window. The moment she did, a large rock smashed through the window and barely missed her face. Luckily, the glass shards have missed as well and Platinum quickly stepped away from the smashed window. She carefully peeked around and could see a large group of people, some of them carrying pitchforks and torches, pointing and shouting angrily at the hospital. Platinum focused on her hearing and could hear what the angry mob was yelling.

"There she is! Get the Dex Holders hiding in the hospital!"

Platinum quickly took cover as another large rock shattered the remainder of the window. She hastily ran over to the door and locked it in case someone from inside the hospital tried to attack her.

'_Oh, what should I do? What should I do?_' she thought in panic. '_I must escape the hospital, but I cannot leave senior Blue behind…_' Platinum ran over towards Blue's bed and gently shook her senior by the shoulders. She didn't want to worsen her senior's condition by shaking too hard. "Senior, senior!"

As Platinum desperately tried to wake Blue from her coma, someone started to pound on the door. The heiress looked at the door fearfully as the uninvited visitor tried to smash it open.

"Hey! I know you're in there, Dex Holder!" the mob yelled from the outside. "Get out here right now! You're going to pay for releasing that virus!"

Platinum now realized why the angry mob was after her. It seemed that ShadowNet was broadcasting lies that it was the Dex Holders who caused the Unown virus to spread. ShadowNet probably claimed that they were currently trying to quarantine and even cure the source of the virus while the Dex Holders were attacking them.

The heiress shook her senior by the shoulders harder. "Senior Blue, please wake up!" she yelled. "We have to escape! Senior!"

Blue still didn't respond at all. The heiress looked back at the door just as the angry mob kicked it open. The mob spotted the two Dex Holders and charged towards them. Platinum did her best to protect Blue and braced herself. But before the mob could reach her, a Nidoqueen appeared out of nowhere and forced them backwards. Platinum was surprised to see the Pokémon protect her and wondered where it came from. She took a glance backwards and saw Blue holding a Pokéball in one hand while trying to keep her eyes open.

"S – Senior Blue?" Platinum muttered in shock.

"I… I can see that it's time for us to get going…" Blue groaned out as she tried to get off her bed. "… Again…"

Platinum quickly rushed over to assist her senior. She then sent out her Empoleon and had it blast a hole through the wall of the hospital. Once there was a large hole deemed big enough, Platinum sent out her Rapidash and returned the Empoleon. She helped Blue get onto the Rapidash and held on. Blue returned her Nidoqueen just as Platinum's Pokémon jumped through the hole in the wall.

Blue did her best to hold on to her junior's Rapidash and Platinum did the same. Since the Fire Horse Pokémon was unable to carry both Dex Holders on its back, the heiress had to hold onto it from the side as it leapt through the air. But unfortunately, she wasn't able to hold onto it completely and she lost her grip during the landing. Though most of the impact was absorbed by the Rapidash and didn't hit Platinum hard, the landing still hurt her quite a bit. The heiress had rolled on the ground to lessen the impact but still felt a sharp pain in her right knee.

"Senior, are you okay?" she asked as she struggled back up to her feet.

Blue slid off of the Rapidash but held onto it in order to maintain balance. Her legs were still shaking, she couldn't really see clearly, and had a horrible headache. "I'll live…"

Platinum supported her senior from the side and returned her Rapidash, as its flames would attract unwanted attention. Though her right knee hurt a lot from the bad landing, the heiress did her best to support Blue and steadily headed west. The angry mob weren't going to chase them if they were heading towards Johto as they believed that the Unown virus was all over the region.

As she limped on, Platinum noticed something. "Senior… I believe you rescued me like this from ShadowNet a couple of days ago."

Blue managed to smile a little. "And so I did… It's strange how fast things change, huh?" She suddenly sighed. "But some things never change…"

"What do you mean, senior?"

Blue gave her junior a bitter smile. "This is the second time an angry mob chased me out of a hospital… And both times, I was in a coma because of my parents…"

"I am so sorry for your loss," Platinum said in the most comforting voice and tone she could manage.

"I envy you, Platinum," Blue said abruptly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You were never kidnapped by a Legendary Pokémon. You weren't separated from your parents for 11 years. You never had to lie, cheat, and steal your way through life. You never had to live in constant fear, afraid of what would happen to you the very next day… And even now… your parents are perfectly fine. They're not dead, and they certainly didn't crumble apart in front of you… And you were always surrounded by family and people who cared about you. You always had plenty of money and never had anything to worry about."

"Senior, I-"

"Nothing changed," Blue muttered after a sigh. "My friends are still fighting evil, I'm permanently separated from my parents, a horde of people want me dead, and here I am again, living in fear of what might happen… When will it all end?"

"I am sure that one day, we will all be able to live in peace," Platinum replied. "There will be a time when we can all focus on our lives instead of fighting evil. Until that day comes, we have to keep fighting."

Just then, a group of people appeared in front of the two Dex Holders, holding flashlights and torches. It seems that a small group of the angry mob had blocked a potential escape route…

"There they are!"

Platinum quickly tried to lead Blue away from the angry mob. But she felt something hit her on the head hard and instantly lost all of her strength. As she fell onto the ground, she looked to the side where she could see a fist sized rock. It seemed that one of the mob members had nailed her on the head with the rock. Although the heiress's thick, soft hat had absorbed the impact enough so that she wouldn't be knocked unconscious, the attack still stunned her.

As she tried to regain her lost strength, Platinum felt the ground shake violently, as if something was using Earthquake. The heiress struggled to sit up. When her vision focused, she could see a Golem, Nidoking, and Nidoqueen forcing the angry mob backwards. Platinum looked around to find their trainer and soon found him. Giovanni was standing near them while he kept Blue in the air with one hand by her throat.

Blue struggled to pry the grip the Team Rocket leader had on her throat, but to no avail. Her feet weren't touching the ground and it was impossible to breathe.

"You," Giovanni growled out. "I thought I told you to take care of Silver. You sent him to Solaceon Town and look what happened."

"I… didn't… know," Blue gasped out. "I… thought it… was safe…"

Giovanni tightened his grip to the point where Blue couldn't keep her eyes open. Platinum quickly rose to her feet and ran over to help her senior.

"Please, stop!" she begged. "Senior Blue wanted to go to Solaceon Town the moment she heard of the Unown virus there. She is still extremely worried about senior Silver. She did not head over to Sinnoh immediately because of what happened to her parents."

Giovanni glared at her but soon released Blue. The Kanto Dex Holder collapsed onto the ground and gasped for air. Platinum knelt beside her and tried to see if she was okay. The Team Rocket leader sent out a couple of Pokémon, and Platinum recognized them as Pidgeots.

"Take them over to Pallet Town," Giovanni ordered. Just before the Pidgeots lifted off, he changed his order. "On second thought, take that one to Pallet Town," he said as he pointed at Platinum. "And take the other to our headquarters."

Platinum jumped in surprise when one of the Pidgeots grabbed onto her arms with its talons (in a way that didn't pierce her shoulders). "Wait!" she yelled. "What are you going to do to senior Blue?!"

"Relax," Giovanni said dismissively. "I won't harm her." He signaled the remaining Pidgeot to take Blue to the Team Rocket headquarters within Viridian City. The Rocket leader looked up at Platinum. "Besides. You have bigger problems to worry about."

"Wh – What do you mean?"

"Your _entire_ team is gone," Giovanni said as he turned away. "Except for the newest member, that is."

Platinum appeared horrified. "S – Senior Red is… gone?"

"Perhaps," Giovanni replied. "Our scouts don't know for sure. Maybe you can find out for yourself."

The heiress didn't struggle as the Pidgeot took her to Pallet Town. It dropped her off in front of Professor Oak's lab before returning to Viridian City. Platinum quickly entered the lab so that she could catch up on recent happenings.

"Platinum? Where's Blue?" Green asked the moment he spotted his junior.

"Mr. Giovanni took her," Platinum replied. "I am terribly sorry, but there was nothing I could do." She took a brief look around and noticed that there were only 4 Dex Holders present, including herself. "Senior, where is everyone else?"

"That's the problem," Green answered. "We lost contact with Red, Gold, and Sapphire. From Crystal's last transmission, it seems that Gold is infected by the Unown virus. And given the nature of her transmission, it's entirely possible that Crystal was killed by Gold."

"Don't say that!" Emerald yelled from behind. "Crystal is _not_ dead! I – I just know it!"

Yellow silently embraced the Hoenn Dex Holder so that he may calm down. She was extremely worried about everyone, especially Red, but with all that has been happening, she was out of ideas.

"We still don't know what happened to Silver and Ruby," Green continued. "Black is still with some of the Johto Gym Leaders blocking Route 31. I called Diamond, Pearl, and White and told them to return as soon as possible. They said they found several powerful trainers who will help us, and they're currently blocking Route 36. White said that she'll be bringing a trainer and his sister. The girl is apparently affected with an earlier version of the Unown virus and we should be able to use her to find a way to reverse the infection."

Platinum shook away the horrible feelings and looked at Green with fierce determination. "Senior Green, I would like the opportunity to go and find senior Red."

"No. We lost enough Dex Holders around the quarantine zone," Green replied.

"When a team leader is in trouble, it is up to the team members to assist," Platinum said. "With seniors Red, Gold, and Sapphire currently out of contact and presumably in trouble, it is up to me to save them."

Green sighed. "Crystal convinced me to let her go to Violet City as well when I told her to wait until our research project finishes. But she didn't listen and now we don't even know whether she's alive. We can't afford to lose you as well."

"Senior, I will leave for Ruins of Alph with or without your permission," Platinum said. "I must find and help senior Red."

"I know. That's the problem," Green said with another sigh. "But perhaps there is something I can do to ensure your fate is different from Crystal's."

"So… are you granting my request?" Platinum asked.

Green didn't reply and simply headed towards the central research room. The heiress followed. Inside the research room, Green picked up some kind of mechanical headband.

"Here. Put this on," he ordered to Platinum.

The heiress took off her hat and put the headband on. She felt severe tingling sensation all over her body for several seconds before it wore off. "Senior, what is this?"

"It's the culmination of the secret research project that had been going on since the moment you first arrived in this lab," Green answered. "Do you remember that data storage device you unknowingly brought from Sinnoh?"

Platinum thought for a second. "Yes. It was hidden in the map Professor Rowan had given me."

"That device contained data on Reflect and Light Screen. The idea for the project was to create an invisible shielding composed of Reflect and Light Screen that will protect the user from oncoming attacks. We were going to create enough for every Dex Holder in order to further enhance our capabilities of combating evil. But thanks to the ShadowNet invasion, we don't have the resources to create any more. And due to the constantly decreasing number of assistants, the project is incomplete. As such, you'll have to use the prototype and be the beta tester."

"So… how does this work?"

Green took a small remote device from a table and pushed a button. Platinum suddenly felt an electric jolt run down her spine and jumped in surprise. Without warning, Green threw a punch at her face. The heiress jumped backwards, but the jump was not her doing. Her senior's fist had hit some kind of barrier directly in front of her face and she was pushed backwards as a result. She didn't feel the punch at all… physically, at least.

"You have now seen how the Reflect and Light Screen Shielding works, which we will now call RLS."

Platinum nervously nodded, still surprised at the sudden punch. She wished her senior demonstrated it in a less scary way, but…

"A – Are there any limitations?" she asked.

"Of course. Unlike the actual Reflect and Light Screen, the RLS completely repels any and all attacks, as long as they're moving faster than the threshold." As a demonstration, Green reached forward and grabbed Platinum's throat slowly. Once his hand touched the heiress's throat, he pulled back. "Anything moving slower will not trigger the system and anything moving away from the sensors will not trigger it as well, regardless of its speed. So be careful when you reach out to grab something. Make sure you don't reach for it too quickly. The RLS creates a barrier composed of Reflect and Light Screen roughly 3 millimeters away from your skin, which is why the sensor must be worn on the head. The system will track the nervous system that reaches all around your body and create the shielding accordingly. Now, the RLS will collapse if you're hit by something of incredible power or constant hits from weaker attacks. And just like Reflect and Light Screen, the RLS will fade after a certain amount of time before it reactivates. The system is set to reactivate once every 5 minutes to match the time the shielding lasts." Green gave Platinum the remote device he used to first activate the RLS. "Use that to manually activate the system and check the percent of shielding that's left. Each manual recharge takes significant amount of power so don't use it if you don't have to. I don't really know how long the system will last before its power runs out."

"I understand."

Yellow approached Platinum from behind and gave her a Pokéball containing her Butterfree. "Here. You'll need Peesk if you want to get to Ruins of Alph quickly."

The heiress bowed in gratitude. Emerald approached her and gave her his E-shooter as well. "Those Unown may have been transformed into something else, but they're still Unown. Use the soil from Ruins of Alph and see if they calm down. I don't think it'll have a permanent calming effect, but it might give you enough time to get away."

"Thank you very much, senior Emerald," Platinum said with another bow. She soon headed outside and prepared to leave.

Emerald followed her outside. "And listen… once you complete your task in Ruins of Alph, see if you can find Crystal in Violet City. I know she's still alive… she can't be dead. I mean, I'd go and find her myself if I didn't have to stay and protect the lab from possible angry mobs."

"I understand, senior," Platinum said as she sent out Yellow's Butterfree. "I will try to bring as much good news as I possibly can, and as fast as possible."

…

August 17th, 2:00 am, Violet City…

…

Platinum returned Yellow's Butterfree back into its Pokéball and hid in the shadows of a large tree. In the distance, she could see a horde of Unown infected people wandering around aimlessly. They were too far and thus couldn't (shouldn't) see/smell?/hear/sense her and Platinum had no intention of letting them either.

The heiress made her way towards the collapsed ruins of Violet City's clothes store. She was supposed to go find Red in Ruins of Alph, but she reasoned that she'll need proper attires. At the moment, her dress did have a giant tear in the middle, was still bloodstained, and it was quite unsuited for evading and running. And there was also her bag, which made things rather difficult for her to use both hands in cases of trouble.

Inside the wreckage of the clothing store, Platinum found the only undamaged clothes that felt suitable and was to her liking. After ensuring that no one (and no_thing_) was nearby, she discarded her current clothes and changed. The heiress kept her socks and boots (she liked them a lot) but now wore a sleeveless black shirt and matching shorts that was as short as her skirt. Since it was still in the middle of summer, Platinum felt that anything else (sleeved shirts and full length pants) would be too hot. She also opted for a different kind of bag instead of the one she carried around. She now had a yellowish bag that was strapped around her waist, similar to the bag that Sapphire had.

After moving everything from her old bag into the new one, Platinum adjusted her hat to keep the RLS system hidden (and to keep her headset on comfortably) and wrapped her scarf around her neck. She kept the remote hidden there, and given the length and width of the scarf, there were no worries of the remote falling out.

Now with increased mobility and maneuverability, Platinum left the wreckage of the clothing store and silently headed towards the Ruins of Alph. On the way, she was careful to hide from plain sight.

Platinum quickly hid behind a tree when she heard some kind of static noise. It wasn't coming from her headset, but from ahead. She carefully peeked around her cover and could see a dead infected ShadowNet grunt on the ground with his communication device near his body. It seems that his entire squad _and_ another have suffered the same fate, as there were bodies strewn all over the place. The heiress looked away from the bodies but focused on her hearing. She could hear some pained screams from presumably ShadowNet grunts and other panicky voices from the device.

"… _What are you doing?! That's the squad leader!"_ came one voice.

"_That __**was**__ the squad leader!"_ argued another.

Platinum shook her head and left the area, being careful to avoid stepping on ShadowNet bodies. The transformed Unown were flying everywhere and she had to be very careful not to attract any attention. It certainly helped that the Unown were searching buildings for people to infect and not the streets below.

Despite still feeling the effects of the big wound on her stomach and the bad landing while escaping Viridian City's hospital, Platinum was able to reach Ruins of Alph within 30 minutes. Right away, she noticed that things were different than in Violet City. There weren't as many bodies, but the few bodies all belonged to Team Rocket.

The heiress was about to peek into the 'ruins' part of Ruins of Alph when she heard a menacing growl. She spun around and let out a short shriek of terror and surprise as one of the infected Rocket grunts were standing right in front of her. The infected Rocket grunt lashed out at her and Platinum quickly jumped backwards. The RLS system took the hit and thanks to it, the heiress didn't feel any pain. She felt as if she was on the verge of suffering a heart attack from the sudden terrifying appearance, but she was fine physically.

Platinum rolled on the ground back up to her feet and pulled out Emerald's E-shooter from her new bag. She quickly shot the Ruins of Alph soil sample directly at the Unown's eye. The infected Rocket grunt was in the act of jumping towards her when the soil sample hit. Platinum quickly rolled to her side to avoid the grunt and watched the reaction. The grunt seemed to have frozen and didn't respond to anything.

"Whew… so the Unown really do calm down," Platinum muttered in relief.

She rose to her feet and was about to head inside the ruins when the infected Rocket grunt jumped at her again. He tackled her down to the ground and held her down by her throat with his hand. Platinum gasped for air as she tried to push the infected grunt off of her. The grunt lashed at her with his tentacles but the attack was repelled once again by the RLS system. Platinum used her feet to kick the Unown's eye, which forced the infected grunt off of her. The heiress coughed for air once she could and quickly shot the grunt again multiple times with her senior's E-shooter.

Using the time of distraction, Platinum forced herself up to her feet and stumbled into the ruins, away from sight. Once she turned several corners, the heiress collapsed on the ground and tried to steady her breathing. Her throat hurt from the infected grunt's attack and her heart was pounding. The heiress put a hand over her heart and took several deep (quiet) breaths to calm herself down. She then reached into her scarf and pulled out the remote for the RLS system. The device read the current shield rate at 24%.

Platinum proceeded to reload Emerald's E-shooter with the soil from inside the ruins as she waited for the RLS system to recharge. Within a minute, the remote displayed 100% shield charge and Platinum was able to continue venturing into the depths of Ruins of Alph. 30 minutes later, she reached up to her headset and tried to see if she could contact Red.

"Senior Red? Can you hear me?" she asked. She froze when she heard a slight static coming from ahead.

Platinum quickly pulled out Emerald's E-shooter once again and advanced slowly and quietly. She peeked around a corner and noticed that the next room was oddly… illuminated. Maybe it was because she was so deep into the ruins, the room had some kind of mist covering the floor and felt oddly cold. Platinum didn't see any transformed Unown or any infected people so she entered.

The heiress took 7 steps into the room and quickly crouched to use the mist as cover. There was a figure shrouded by the odd mist standing near the corner of the room that became a little more visible the closer she got to it. Platinum couldn't tell what it was. It wasn't like any of the infected people she saw… It was roughly humanoid but completely white, as if an infected person was covered from head to toe by the materialized psychic energy the transformed Unown created.

Platinum reached for her headset once again and began to look around for a possible exit or entrance to another hallway. "Senior? Are you there? Please respond." She froze when the static was heard from the mysterious figure. She slowly crept closer towards the figure. With a terrible suspicion beginning to befall on her, Platinum let out a quiet whistle into her headset. Much to her horror, she heard her own whistle coming from the figure ahead. Platinum gasped in shock and screamed. "Senior Red! No!"

The figure in front of her suddenly turned around. Platinum began to tremble in horror. The figure _was_ Red, but with _four_ of the transformed Unown attached to him… The infected Red dashed towards Platinum nearly three times as fast as the normally infected people. Platinum shrieked as her senior lashed at her with the 3 iron-like tentacles on his left arm.

The heiress quickly took out Emerald's E-shooter and shot one of the Unown attached to her senior. Red stopped in his tracks for a split second before he charged again. Platinum hastily jumped away in the split second and continued to fire Emerald's E-shooter. Once there was some distance between them, Platinum put away Emerald's E-shooter and took out the Pokéballs of her Empoleon and Rapidash so that she may buy some time and protect herself while trying to figure out a way to save Red. But to her surprise, the moment her two Pokémon appeared, the infected Red reached to his side with his hand and took a couple of Pokéballs of his own. The Pokéballs were completely white, as if they were also affected by the Unown.

The infected Red sent out his two Pokémon and Platinum stared at them in horror. The Pokémon were completely white as well and appeared to be silhouettes as they lacked any visible features such as eyes and mouths. But Platinum recognized the two silhouettes. Her senior had sent out his Pikachu and Venusaur and prepared for a Double Battle. It seemed that the Unowns attached to Red were accessing his mind for his battling talents.

Platinum sensed overwhelming dread as she realized exactly how much trouble she was in. To make things much worse, the infected Red didn't even have to give it orders as the Unown simply transmitted them to the infected Pokémon via telepathy. Platinum wouldn't be able to win the battle even if she heard the opposing commands. But without them, there was absolutely no way she could even put up a fight. Not to mention that the heiress only had 4 Pokémon on her (Empoleon, Rapidash, Lopunny, and Yellow's Butterfree) while Red had his entire team of 6.

Platinum quickly thought of a solution. A theory popped up and she returned her Rapidash. Much to her relief, the infected Red returned his Pikachu, as his mind recognized that he was no longer in a Double Battle. Platinum held her breath as she returned her Empoleon as well. To her relief, the infected Red returned his Venusaur as well, as his mind recognized that there wasn't going to be a battle. It seemed that Red's honor was still with him; he wasn't going to use his Pokémon against someone who wasn't using hers. But the moment he returned his Venusaur, he charged straight towards Platinum.

The heiress quickly reached for Emerald's E-shooter again. But unfortunately, the moment she took the E-shooter out of her bag, the infected Red struck her on the shoulder with the tentacles on his arm. Though the attack itself didn't harm Platinum at all thanks to the RLS system, it still pushed her off her feet. She hit the ground hard a couple of meters away and dropped the E-shooter.

Platinum quickly reached for the E-shooter lying on the floor just an arm's reach away. But before she could grab it, the infected Red jumped towards her and Platinum had no choice but to roll even further away from the only advantage she had over her infected senior. Platinum tried to get up but Red was already practically on top of her. The infected Red gripped his junior by her throat and forced her up. Platinum couldn't feel the floor below her feet, and her senior's body was out of her arms' reach.

The infected Red pulled her close and growled in her face. Taking full advantage of the proximity, Platinum punched one of the Unowns' eye with the diamond ring on her left hand. Red dropped her and started to tremble violently. Platinum dropped to her knees and coughed for air. She looked up at her senior, hoping that her punch had some effect. Much to her joy, the Unown that she punched fell off of Red and shook itself to pieces. So it seemed that these transformed Unown were very vulnerable to physical attacks to the eyes…

"Senior! Can you hear me?!" Platinum shouted, hoping that Red would be able to fight the Unown infection a little better. But it seemed that 3 remaining Unown were more than enough to maintain full control.

Red lashed out at her again and Platinum quickly rolled out of the way. She took a brief moment to see where Emerald's E-shooter was, and in that split second, Red hit her across the chest with the tentacles. The RLS system still held, despite the heiress being sent flying a couple of meters again.

Platinum grunted in pain from the hard landing and checked the shield charge with the remote. It displayed the charge to be at 2%, so Platinum quickly pressed the manual recharge button. There weren't any other options, after all. She then put the remote back into her scarf and rose to her feet.

'_Ungh… alright… It is possible to save senior Red, but it will not be easy. I must inflict enough damage to the remaining Unown, but I must get close to him. I cannot use my Pokémon or senior Red will do the same and I will lose… … I can do this…_'

Platinum clenched her teeth and charged at her senior, who was doing the same. The heiress predicted his move (a lateral strike with his tentacles) and slid on the floor to dodge the attack. She slid past her senior entirely and reached Emerald's E-shooter. With it in hand, she quickly rolled back up to her feet and just before Red could hit her again, shot him point-blank with it.

In the split second she was given, Platinum punched another Unown in the eye with her diamond ring. Though she did run straight into a punch herself, the second Unown fell off and shook itself to pieces. Red started to tremble again from the sudden loss of the second Unown. Platinum quickly aimed at the third Unown and aimed a punch at it just as Red snapped out and kicked her in the chest. Though Platinum's punch did hit the third Unown in the eye, Red's kick had shattered through her RLS system and hit the girl hard.

The attack sent Platinum flying a few meters back again and she hit the floor with a painful crash. This time, with no RLS to take the impact, Platinum suffered from the crash. She put a hand over her chest and coughed violently. The wind had been knocked out of her and she couldn't focus. When her vision finally focused, Platinum could see Red charging for her once again. This time, she could see the half of his face, as enough of the Unown had fallen off. But it didn't appear that he even knew what was happening. It seemed that the last remaining Unown still had total control.

Platinum raised Emerald's E-shooter up with trembling hands and fired. But unfortunately, nothing came out as she had unknowingly depleted all the soil samples. Platinum desperately crawled away from her senior as she reached towards her RLS system's remote. She hit the manual recharge button, but nothing happened. She tried again, but still nothing. The remote still displayed the shield charge to be at 0%. The heiress could only watch in despair as Red reached for her. At the moment, Platinum had no defense or offense…

She tried to push her senior away, but to no avail. Once again, Red gripped her throat, but even harder than before. Platinum tried to pry the grip as her senior lifted her high above the ground.

"Ugh… S – Senior…" she choked out. "Please… f – fight!"

Her cries didn't seem to do anything, as Red's visible expression was still blank. Realizing that trying to reach to him was pointless, Platinum focused on the last remaining Unown. Perhaps sensing her shift of focus, Red tightened his grip even harder. Platinum gasped for air and felt her vision fading quickly. Her vision had tunneled to the point where she could only see the Unown attached to her senior near his neck. With her very last ounce of strength, Platinum moved her feet to kick the Unown in the eye. But unfortunately, before her feet made contact with the Unown's eye, Red's three tentacles struck her first in his full powered lateral strike. To Platinum's luck, the RLS system had just restarted and as such, the attack hit the shield first. But as it was in the process of recharging, the shield was still rather weak and Red's attack shattered through and struck Platinum's body. The impact instantly knocked the heiress into a semi-conscious state and drained her completely of all her strength and body senses except her sense of touch and hearing.

Platinum felt several things as she wavered in and out of unconsciousness. At one instant, she felt her body flying through the air. In the next instant, she felt sharp pain all over her body as she collided into the wall. Then she felt the cold hard floor pressed against her body and her face. The heiress still felt excruciating pain from her shoulder, elbow, and her side, where Red's three tentacles have struck. And in the final instant before she lost consciousness entirely, she could hear Red's menacing growl from behind and she then realized that she had failed in her task…

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>I am sure that one day, we will all be able to live in peace," Platinum replied. "There will be a time when we can all focus on our lives instead of fighting evil."<strong>_

**That little speech from Platinum is an advertisement for Special Lives (SL), where the 15 Dex Holders aren't focusing on battling evil, but rather, their own lives.**

**Ignore any and all physical anomalies the RLS system may present, as it is purely science fiction and thus designed to be futuristic. And as mentioned somewhere early in SA, Platinum had returned Froslass, Cherrim, and Pachirisu to their original owners. Though it's unknown whether she kept them or not at the end of Platinum arc (doesn't say), SA will assume that she returned them.**

**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: Red, Silver, Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire.**

**A Dex Holder will be added to the KIA/MIA list if one or more of these conditions are met: 1) they're dead, 2) they might be dead (status unknown), or 3) they're definitely alive, but their location is unknown. Blue wasn't in the list during her coma because she wasn't dead and she was clearly in Viridian City's hospital. Platinum is not on the list at the moment for the same reason. She's still alive for sure (but might die soon), and she's definitely still in Ruins of Alph.**

**I purposely avoided revealing anything about the fates of Sapphire and Crystal. You'll have to wait for them. Instead, I revealed what happened to Red. Now, I guarantee/promise that the next chapter will have Crystal in it, whether her broken mangled dead body is discovered or she's found alive despite being broken and mangled.**

**For those who aren't familiar with the original inspiration for the Unown virus, here's another slightly modified tidbit from the source. Once again, I do not own the original source, as mentioned in one of the earlier SA chapters. I will list all of the references/quotes used in the end of SA, if it continues that far.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

'_I… forgot something… What did I… My name. I forgot… … I'm… uh… Red! From… Pallet Town! A Kanto Dex Holder! The Battler!_' Red grimaced as he felt something… terrible. It sounded as if something was squirming inside his mind, but felt as if it was vibrating violently from deep inside his brain. '_What is that noise? What is that damn noise?!_'

Once the horrible sensation faded, Red tried to look around. But he couldn't. His eyes were open (he thought), but he couldn't see or feel anything.

'_Where am I?_'

Red focused his mind on remembering the events before… whatever happened. Soon, images of the innards of the Ruins of Alph appeared in his mind as he successfully dug up the memories of his most recent activities.

'_ShadowNet captured me, didn't they? I can't… I can't remember… … Red! From Pallet Town! K – Kanto Dex Holder! The Battler!_'

Red could feel his consciousness started to slip away. He began to feel more and more lightheaded and sensed another presence in his mind, growing bigger and bigger…

'… … _Red… from… Pallet? … Kanto Dex Holder… … The Battler… …_' Red could sense what the other presence was after… what it was searching his mind for. '_Oh no… you… you want __**everything**__. Stay out of my head!_'

The other presence is his mind suddenly spoke to him and it caused blinding pain. '_Everything…_'

An image of a familiar person appeared in Red's battered mind. He instantly recognized her. '_Yellow? … Is that you?_'

The other presence spoke again and the image of Yellow was instantly torn away from Red. '_Forget everything._'

'_No!_' Red fought as he struggled to keep his memories of Yellow. '_Please… don't make me forget…_' But it was too late and he could no longer remember anything about Yellow, even her name. There was one thing he remembered and he held onto it for dear life. '_… Red… from Pallet… Kanto Dex Holder… The B – Battler…_'

The other presence spoke again. Multiple memories from his past appeared in Red's mind and vanished as the other presence tore them away from him. It was stealing his memories, one by one…

'_No more what you were. Memories. Emotions. All is now ours._'

Red kept fighting. He could not afford to lose… '_R – Red… from Pallet Town! Kanto Dex Holder! The Battler! … … You will __**not**__ have me!_'

'… _We already do._'

* * *

><p><strong>This whole 'memory stealing' and whatnot is actually a special occurrence. It doesn't happen to everyone who's infected (they have less fighting options and are generally assimilated quickly and painfully). It only happens to those who have specific knowledge. Such as… locations of home worlds and defense layouts.<strong>


	25. Regret

**A quick update. Blame/thank skyrocketing motivation (for once). Check the SR of SA in the news section to see exactly how much.**

**I get the idea that a lot of people misunderstood my joke-to-sarcasm in the upper-notes of the last chapter (so I edited it out). I guess it didn't have enough sarcasm. Well, looks like I'll need more practice. Anyways, to rephrase that statement into the proper sentence devoid of any and all sarcasm/humor, it goes… "If SA maintains 7 or more faithful reviewers, I will **_**not**_** be able to cancel SA as there are too many people who are faithful." Sorry for causing the misunderstanding. It probably will happen again at some point, so consider yourselves warned.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 23: Regret<p>

Gold  
>Sprout Tower, Violet City<br>3 hours after fall

…

Gold woke up and instantly realized that his body was stuck in the breach in the wall of the Sprout Tower that he created in an attempt to save Crystal from himself. Gold forced himself to regain control over his body and looked backwards. It appeared that his billiard cue got caught in the narrow gap of the wall and the Unown that infected him was too… stupid to figure out a solution. Gold simply pushed himself away from the hole and took several steps backwards. Now that he had almost absolute control over his own body and he was standing on level ground, it was time to take care of some important business.

He grabbed his billiard cue with his usable hand and fully extended it. He then slid the cue down his grip so that he could hold it in the middle. While doing so, he noted the position of the transformed Unown that was attached onto him between his neck and shoulder. Once he was satisfied with the cue's positioning, he quickly stabbed the solid lump of Unown between his neck and shoulder, which was where the eye was. Gold managed to miss his own shoulder, luckily.

Just then, he felt intense pain from his head as the Unown's presence was forcefully ejected. His body ached all over the place and for a second, he thought he was going to black out again. But in 7 seconds, the Unown fell off of him and Gold instantly felt the pain and aching vanish. He opened his eyes and saw the transformed Unown shake itself to pieces.

Now that that's been taken care of, there was one important thing left… the _most_ important… Gold quickly headed downstairs. This time, he ignored any and all scratching and other unusual noises from within the Sprout Tower.

The moment he exited the Sprout Tower, he looked up to find the hole he made in the wall. He turned around a corner and soon found it. Which meant that if he ended up killing Crystal, her body should be around the ground on that side of the tower. If Crystal did survive, then surely Gold would be able to find some clues…

Gold first looked at the calm lake. The water was as calm as ever. It was clear that nothing had fallen into the water recently. Gold scanned the ground near the Sprout Tower. If Crystal had hit the ground from the fall and someone or some_thing_ had moved her body, then there would be significant amount of blood where the girl would've hit. Thankfully, he found no such blood patches. There was nothing on the ground.

'_Crys… tell me you survived,_' Gold thought as he took a deep breath.

The goggled boy then searched the bushes nearby in case Crystal fell on those. But again, his searches have failed. Gold then looked up at the Sprout Tower, wondering if Crystal's body was still stuck somewhere up there. Her body was still nowhere to be found.

Gold headed towards the forest closest to the Sprout Tower. He searched the ground thoroughly and soon spotted something. It wasn't Crystal, but rather, a bunch of broken twigs and tree branches. Gold looked up and saw a tall tree with just about all of its branches snapped except for the thickest one on the bottom. Since Crystal wasn't spotted, Gold moved on. He wondered if Crystal had hit that tree, but someone or something had moved her body…

…

_Crystal  
><em>_Forest near Sprout Tower, Violet City  
><em>_Immediately after fall_

…

_When Gold punched her through the wall of the Sprout Tower, Crystal was still barely conscious. Her body plummeted to the ground, but into the forest. She hit a thick branch on a tall tree, effectively slowing her fall at the expense of her consciousness. The thick branch snapped and Crystal continued to fall. She hit the branch below, snapped it, fell through, hit another branch, and continued until her speed had decreased enough that her fall was unable to break the thickest branch on the bottom of the tree._

_Crystal's body stayed on the thickest branch until four figures approached it half an hour later…_

…

Gold  
>Quarantined streets, Violet City<br>4 hours after fall

…

Gold scanned the streets carefully. If an Unown had gotten to Crystal… He shuddered at the thought, but if she was indeed infected, then he would find her and save her. Gold soon came across a handful of planted trees between the remnants of the city's clothes store and the direct route to Ruins of Alph. Instead of Crystal, he managed to find what appeared to be two squads worth of infected ShadowNet grunts aimlessly wandering. The infected grunts saw him and mindlessly charged at him.

Gold gritted his teeth. He wasn't in the mood to fight these things. But he had no choice. He sent out his only Pokémon at the moment: Ho-oh. He ordered the Rainbow Pokémon to hit the infected grunts with Psychic. He avoided ordering a Fire type move as the light emitted would attract unwanted attention. Once the 8 infected ShadowNet grunts dropped dead (Ho-oh obeyed!), Gold noticed that the Unown didn't fall off or shake itself to pieces, as it had not received any physical damage.

Gold returned Ho-oh and was about to move on when he heard a static. He took a brief look around and saw that one of the infected grunts had a communication device that fell out of his pocket. Gold moved on. But had he stayed a minute longer, he would have seen Platinum exit the clothes store and approach the dead infected ShadowNet grunts…

Completely unaware that he had just missed his team member, Gold continued on. He had lost hope that he would find Crystal, as there were absolutely no hints of her whereabouts. But he continued on anyways. He soon came across an opening in the center of Violet City, where Sapphire had been battling the ShadowNet grunts and the infected civilians in the previous day.

Gold took a look around, wondering what had become of Sapphire. He let out a long sigh. Now he had _two_ people to find or find clues of their whereabouts in Violet City. He soon found what appeared to be a small patch of blood on the ground near a big footprint that appeared to have belonged to a Dragon type Pokémon…

…

_Sapphire  
><em>_ShadowNet Johto HQ, Goldenrod City  
><em>_1 hour after fall_

…

_Sapphire tried to move her arms, but couldn't. She tried to move her feet, but also couldn't. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that her wrists and ankles have been chained to the wall. She looked ahead and spotted Ruby standing in front of her with that white mask on._

"_So you're awake," he said. In that instant, six ShadowNet grunts came by and stood by his side._

"_Ruby…" Sapphire started as she slowly shook her head. "Please… tell me this isn't true!"_

_A ShadowNet grunt presented Ruby with a small sack of some sort. Ruby reached into it and withdrew a transformed Unown. The Unown tried to fly straight towards the ShadowNet grunt but Ruby held onto it firmly._

"_Leave," Ruby ordered. The six ShadowNet grunts seemed to hesitate, but soon did as ordered. Ruby then approached Sapphire with the Unown in hand._

"_Ruby, no… Please. You… you can't be working with them!" Sapphire yelled out. "Please tell me that you're still on the good side!"_

_Ruby let go of the Unown the moment it latched onto Sapphire's face. "Sorry."_

_Sapphire soon started to thrash around as the transformed Unown started to infect her. She groaned in anger and agony as the Unown tried to take her. Sapphire briefly lost consciousness in the process. When she woke up again a minute later, the process was complete._

"_So… you really have turned," Sapphire muttered sadly. She was surprised that she could still talk._

_Ruby glanced left and right. After ensuring that no one was around, he looked at Sapphire again. "No."_

"_What?"_

"_I'm still on your side, Sapphire," Ruby said quietly as he kept his eyes on the cut on the side of Sapphire's head, caused by the Salamence he borrowed from ShadowNet. He didn't like knowing that Sapphire may have a Salamence scar of her own. But the cut on the girl's head wasn't deep, so it would probably heal completely._

"_But… the Unown," Sapphire started, confused._

"_You can still talk, hear, and see," Ruby said. "That's definitely different from the ShadowNet grunts who are infected. I'm not entirely sure why, but I do have a theory."_

_Sapphire narrowed her eyes. "And what's that?"_

_Ruby took a small mirror from his bag and showed it to Sapphire. The girl saw her reflection and noticed that the Unown wasn't on her. Her body wasn't covered by the materialized psychic energy. The only thing that changed from before the infection was that there appeared to be a solid white mask like material over her face, presumably the materialized psychic energy created by the Unown._

_Ruby put the mirror back into his bag and took off his glove. He showed the back of his hand to Sapphire. "Can you see this?"_

_Sapphire froze. There was a glowing red symbol on Ruby's hand. "Isn't that… the symbol of the Red Orb?"_

_Ruby nodded. "Yes. If I had to guess, I'd say that the leftover power of the Red Orb is still in my veins and it's combating the Unown. I thought you would have the same resistance, and it seems that I was right."_

_Sapphire remained perfectly still for a second. She could feel some sort of light burning sensation in her hands. So it seemed that the leftover power of the Blue Orb was in her veins… "So then why…"_

_Ruby cleared his throat. "I heard from the regional boss of ShadowNet. Their project initially had four stages. The first stage is after the initial infection. The subject loses complete control and does whatever the controller tells them to do. The second stage is rampancy. The subject does whatever it feels like doing. The third stage is what you and I are experiencing. We can do what we want, but only stronger and faster than normal. The final stage is complete control. We can control the Unown inside us and use its power enhancement when we want. We'd look exactly like we did before the infection. Currently, everyone who's been infected is at the second stage because Gold and Crystal destroyed the stabilizer by accident on Seven Island when they destroyed the transmitter. We're the only ones in the third stage, which is why ShadowNet grunts listen to me. The commander thinks I'm on their side. Because no one else is in the third stage, no one knows that we can control ourselves."_

"_And the fourth stage?"_

"_No one's there yet. No one knows how to get there either. Hell, no one knows how to get to the third stage either. ShadowNet doesn't know why exactly I'm in the third stage. Which is why they placed me high in the food chain." Ruby took another look around before he unlocked the chains binding Sapphire's arms and legs. "Quick, get out of here. Go back to our seniors and help them out."_

"_What about you?" Sapphire asked as she observed the symbol of the Blue Orb glowing in the back of her hand._

"_I have to stay here. When the time comes, I'll destroy this place from the inside."_

_Sapphire put her glove back on. She looked at Ruby, wondering whether she should trust him. But she soon made her mind. She'd trust him. After all, she knew him technically since she was 6, and he never meant her harm in any way. Sapphire nodded and briefly hugged her thought-to-be-lost friend._

"_Good luck, Ruby. I'll come back and help you destroy this place when you're ready."_

"_Quite a few ShadowNet grunts here don't like the way things are turning out. They might revolt and when that happens, I'll let you know. It'll be the perfect opportunity to destroy this place." Ruby glanced around again to ensure no one could hear or see. "Now, to escape without any suspicion…" he started. He reached into his bag and withdrew Sapphire's Pokéballs. "Have your Blaziken blast a hole in the wall and escape. I'll pretend that you attacked me. So go. But be careful. There are lots of ShadowNet nearby. Escaping from here will be difficult, but I'm sure you can do it."_

_Sapphire took the Pokéballs and put them in her bag. "Thanks Ruby. I'll… see you then." She sent out her Blaziken just as Ruby got on the floor as if he was knocked unconscious. "Chaka, Blast Burn at the far wall!"_

…

Gold  
>Quarantined streets, Violet City<br>4 hours and 30 minutes after fall

…

Gold stood outside the burnt remnants of Crystal's house. Seeing the girl's destroyed home made him feel even worse. He let out a long sigh.

'_I never should've met Crys. Because of me, she's gone… If she stayed away from me… If we weren't friends, she would've been safe. Why did she care about me so much? If she didn't care about me or even just cared less, she wouldn't have come to find me here and she wouldn't have gotten hurt. But…_'

Gold wiped away a forming tear and walked away from Crystal's destroyed house. He decided to go to Earl's Academy. The girl did care a lot of about the place. Maybe if Crystal was infected by the Unown, she would end up somewhere in or around the remnants of the orphanage due to her subconscious. But unfortunately, Gold had absolutely no idea where Earl's Academy was, as he had never been there. And he couldn't ask around either, since no one was around except for infected people and transformed Unown.

But Gold did remember hearing some details about the place. As he walked, he found something on the grass near the remnants of the Violet City Gym. Gold ran towards it and recognized it as Crystal's hat. The goggled boy picked it up and rotated it in his hands. He froze upon seeing a section dyed crimson by blood.

'_Crys… … did… did she really die? Did I… kill her?_'

Gold embraced Crystal's hat and desperately looked around. "Crys!" he yelled out. "Where are you?! Crys!"

Gold focused on his hearing. The only thing he heard was growling from infected civilians who started to charge towards him. Gold saw them coming but didn't do anything. He didn't want to do anything. It was clear that he had killed Crystal and that her body had been moved by something. He didn't want to live with that thought in his mind. Maybe this time, he'll get infected by a stronger Unown and thus lose his mind and body all together…

Before the leading infected civilian could reach him, a figure dropped from the sky and landed on top. The small, slim, slender figure quickly subdued the infected civilian and approached Gold.

"Gold, what are you still doing here?" the female figure asked.

Gold snapped out from his depression. "… Wildchild Girl?"

Sapphire saw the flood of infected civilians and quickly led Gold away from the area after returning her Tropius. "Yeah, it's me. I came here to find you."

"You… you've been infected too, huh?" Gold muttered as he eyed the solid white materialized psychic energy on Sapphire's face.

Sapphire nodded. "Yeah… But thanks to the power of the Blue Orb, I'm at a stage above the other infected people. What about you?"

"If you stab at the eye of the Unown, the infection reverses, it seems," Gold answered.

Sapphire stopped running half an hour later once she deemed that she was far enough away from the horde of infected civilians. She looked at her senior and saw the crestfallen expression. "What's wrong?"

Gold sighed as he looked at Crystal's bloodied hat in his hands. "Crys… came looking for me. I… I was still infected at that time and I… hurt her. I could still fight the Unown so I threw her off the Sprout Tower so the Unown couldn't use me to kill her, but… I think she was killed by the fall instead… The remaining ShadowNet grunts here must've gotten to her body and moved her away…"

…

_Crystal  
><em>_Forest near Sprout Tower, Violet City  
><em>_30 minutes after fall_

…

_Four figures approached the thick tree branch in which Crystal's body lay. Two of the figures climbed the tree and carefully moved the girl's body off. The remaining two figures caught her and supported her from either side. The four then quickly moved away. The 3 boys carried Crystal while the remaining girl simply followed._

"_What do you think happened?" one of the boys asked._

"_I don't know. But she looks really bad," another replied._

"_Is she even alive?" asked the third boy._

"_Would you three shut up?" the girl said angrily. "We're in a city surrounded by those things and here you are, yakking away!"_

"… _Sorry," the three boys said in unison._

"_Let's just get to the orphanage. We'll figure out a way to fix that leg there."_

"_But…" one of the boys started quietly. "If… if she's dead…"_

…

Gold  
>Quarantined streets, Violet City<br>4 hours and 30 minutes after fall

…

"You… you think you killed Crystal?" Sapphire asked in surprise.

Gold nodded as he fought he urge to cry. There was no way that he'd let his junior see him shed a tear… Sapphire seemed to understand. She gave her senior a comforting hug for a second.

"I'm sorry, Gold," she said. "But don't worry so much. This is Crystal we're talking about. She's very tough."

Gold didn't look convinced. "I don't know… I couldn't find her body anywhere. With what happened to her leg, she couldn't have gone anywhere."

"You need to believe in her," Sapphire said. "She won't die like that. I'm sure she's…" She trailed off and began sniffing at the air.

"What are you doing?" Gold asked.

Sapphire kept sniffing at the air. "I… think I smell Crystal's perfume…"

Gold perked up. "What? Really? From where?"

"It's… faint, but I think it's coming from over there," Sapphire answered as she pointed at a direction.

Gold gave her a high five. "Wow. Great job, Wildchild Girl! Let's go then!"

Sapphire started to lead the way while Gold followed. "It's getting a little stronger," she said as she kept sniffing at the air.

Gold took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. For the first time, he was filled with hope that Crystal was alive. But a thought occurred. "Wait… Crys wears perfume? Since when?"

Sapphire looked slightly bewildered. "She had them when I first saw her back in the Battle Frontier of Hoenn. What, you never noticed?"

"Uh… I know that Proto-Gal wears perfume. Not that much, but still. Maybe Crys uses even less? … No wonder she thinks I'm an idiot…"

Sapphire let out a short laugh. "To be fair, Crystal uses a lot less than rookie." Sapphire sniffed at the air again to ensure that she was on the right trail.

…

_Crystal  
><em>_Earl's Academy, Violet City  
><em>_1 hour after fall_

…

"_Hey, hurry up! Meter sticks, pieces of fence, chair legs, whatever. Get any and all things that can be used as a frame!"_

_The 3 boys scurried around the remnants of the orphanage, scavenging materials. But while doing so, one felt the urge to trip one of his friends._

"_Oh, you bastard…" the tripped boy grumbled as he got back up._

"_Guys! Stop screwing around!" the girl yelled from behind. "Act your age!"_

"_We're all 8!"_

"… _Right! You're acting like 7!"_

_The girl looked at Crystal's horribly misshapen leg. The process was going to be messy and sickening. But with no doctors around, there really was no choice._

…

Sapphire  
>Quarantined streets, Violet City<br>5 hours and 10 minutes after fall

…

Sapphire tried to communicate through her headset again. It bothered her to know that Red wasn't responding at all. Even though it was past 3 in the morning, but still, surely he would be worried about her… After all, he probably heard of her capture or even noticed something was wrong as she couldn't respond to any and all communication attempts during that time.

"I can't get Red," she said with a sigh. "Maybe rookie knows what happened."

Gold didn't say anything as he kept his attention on Crystal's hat. He occasionally glanced around to make sure no infected civilians or the transformed Unown were about to pounce on him.

Sapphire tried contacting Platinum several times, but received no response again. She kept trying. "Hey rookie, you out there? Respond. That's an order!"

"Give it up, Wildchild Girl," Gold said from behind. "Knowing Proto-Gal, she probably went to find senior Red if anything happened to him."

"Exactly. That's why I'm worried. If something bad happened to Red, what could rookie accomplish?"

"Just give up trying to contact her. Even if she's not dead, she's probably unconscious. She won't be able to answer."

Sapphire stared at her senior in disbelief. "Oh, give up, huh? What if it was you out there?"

"I'm just saying," Gold answered. "We'll go find Proto-Gal after we find Crys."

Sapphire shook her head as she continued walking. "Oh, you're a piece of work, Gold…" She looked ahead and sniffed at the air again. "Anyways, we're here."

Gold looked ahead and saw nothing but the remnants of… a school of some sort. "What is this place?"

Sapphire glanced left and right. "I don't know. This might be the orphanage Crystal talked about."

Gold took a brief look at the surroundings. It seemed to match Crystal's description of the location of the orphanage. Although the key buildings the girl had pointed out were in shambles, they were still recognizable.

"Do you think anyone or anything else is in there?" Gold asked as he clenched his billiard cue tight.

Sapphire sniffed at the air again and focused on her hearing. She could hear something from inside. Sounded like a whisper of some sort. "I think so. Let's go inside quietly."

Sapphire dropped to all fours and began crawling into the wreckage of the orphanage. Gold crouched and followed, but his junior was too fast. To catch up, the goggled boy had to walk/jog.

Inside the destroyed orphanage, Sapphire sniffed at the air to find the exact source of Crystal's perfume. There were a lot of dead bodies on the ground, ranging from ShadowNet grunts to random people. They all had massive construction-grade nails sticking out of their bodies. It appeared that whoever had taken shelter in the orphanage had quite a few visitors from infected people.

She sensed movement from ahead and prepared herself. She reached for her Pokéballs and in that instant, a massive nail was shot at her from the shadows. Thanks to the heightened speed and reaction caused by the Unown inside her, Sapphire managed to catch it before it hit her in the heart. She raised her hands in the air to show that she meant no harm.

"Wait, wait!" she yelled. "I'm not one of them!"

"Yeah! We're not one of those infected guys," Gold said from behind.

"And we're not working for the bad guys either," Sapphire added.

No nails were shot at the two Dex Holders, but there wasn't any response either.

"We only came here to look for someone," Gold said as he slowly stepped in front of Sapphire with his hands up.

"Prove that you're not the bad guy," came a voice from the shadows. The voice sounded awfully young…

Sapphire reached into her bag and took out her Pokédex. She held it in front of her and hoped that the faint moonlight entering from the outside was enough to make it visible.

"Have you ever seen one of these before?" she asked.

"… Yeah. That's a Pokédex. I've seen one before," the voice answered. "Alright. Come in."

Gold and Sapphire slowly proceeded to walk into the darkness, being careful not to arouse any hostility. When they were close enough, they could see three kids in the shadows, barely visible with the faint moonlight creeping in from the cracks and holes in the ceiling. The three kids all had modified slingshots loaded with a massive nail. Two of them kept the slingshots in the general direction of the Dex Holders while the remaining kid kept his aimed at the entrance. Once the Dex Holders were in, two of the kids blocked the entrance with all sorts of debris (destroyed tables, chairs, pieces of wall/ceiling, etc). The three kids then led the two Dex Holders deep into the remnants of the orphanage.

In the center of the wreckage, there was a concealed room that was illuminated. The three kids opened the door and the two Dex Holders could see that the room was actually a classroom with all the windows sealed shut. There was a young girl inside with a modified slingshot aimed at the door. Seeing her friends, she lowered her weapon.

Sapphire sniffed at the air. Crystal's perfume was strong in this room. She looked at Gold and nodded. Her senior nervously entered the room and walked towards the little girl. The little girl pointed to the room. Gold looked at where the girl pointed and froze.

"C – Crys…"

"… Gold…"

…

Meanwhile…

…

L: Something's weird here.

D: Yes sir.

L: The Unown virus… isn't acting as predicted.

D: Yes sir.

L: … We should get everyone infected.

D: Yes sir.

L: … You're an idiot.

D: Yes s… Ow!

L: Stop daydreaming and pay attention!

D: Yes sir!

L: Now then. The Unown virus isn't acting as predicted at all.

D: What do you mean?

L: The scientists who worked on the project said that the Unown should be trying to form some sort of central intelligence by now that has sovereign command over all the other Unown, like a hive-mind. But… they're not doing that. They're still randomly infecting people.

D: Why do you think that's happening?

L: The Unown must still be under someone's control. Did we lose any equipment relevant to our project?

D: Uh… yes sir. Quite a lot. Our building in Azalea Town did receive some shipment from our research building in Seven Island, but out of the 8 crates, 1 was missing. The Johto commander's office was ransacked by the Dex Holders who escaped captivity, and… half of our… money is missing.

L: Say what? When did that happen?

D: It seems that… the ex-Galactic commanders we recruited weren't really on our side. They… robbed us.

L: … Fan-f*cking-tastic…

D: And seeing how the Dex Holders have everything the Johto commander had the night they escaped, it's entirely possible that they know where our main headquarters are. We should leave this place and find a safer location.

L: … Fine. Get our task force in Sinnoh to send a few people to secure the harbor in Canalave City silently. Make sure nothing bad happens when we get there. And tell them to hurry the hell up with their task. Surely infiltrating the biggest mansion in all of Sinnoh and kidnapping the owner isn't _that_ hard!

* * *

><p><strong>Dex Holder KIAMIA list: Red, Silver, Platinum**

**Yes, Crystal is alive. I didn't want her to die yet, not in this fashion at any rate. If she's going to die, it'll be in glorious and honorable combat. I feel quite a few people thought she was dead because of the silence in the last chapter. As such, the WCHB for this chapter shows what would've happened if Crystal did die.**

**Now, this chapter occurs concurrently with the previous chapter. Crystal fell off the Sprout Tower around 10:30, so using the one-time-only layout difference (it's yet another reference, so to speak), it's easy to see when exactly each moment of this chapter occurs. But this update offered absolutely no hints on what happened to Red and Platinum. They'll appear in the next chapter, along with Crystal. It'll be like a… practice for SL when its storylines converge (in this case, segments involving Red and Platinum, Gold and Sapphire, and Crystal will all converge).**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Conditions:  
>Crystal is killed by the fall.<p>

…

Gold began his search around the Sprout Tower, desperate to find some kind of hint that Crystal had survived. He suddenly froze when he turned the corner from the entrance to the tower. He could see Crystal lying face down on the ground on a small puddle of her own blood. Gold snapped out and quickly dashed to her side. He knelt beside her and gently shook her. Her body felt so cold…

Gold shook away the coming dread and pulled Crystal onto her back. He froze again upon seeing the girl's face streaked with blood and her blank lifeless eyes. With trembling hands, Gold checked his close friend's pulse. Nothing…

"Crys…" Gold stammered out. "N – No… no… you can't… Crys! You can't be dead!" He couldn't suppress the coming tears and embraced Crystal's dead body. "I'm so sorry, Crys! If… if I knew this would happen, I never would've stayed around you…"

Gold heard a menacing growl from behind and turned around. He could see an infected ShadowNet grunt growling at him as he slowly walked closer. Gold gritted his teeth as he was filled from head to toe with uncontrollable anger. He carefully set Crystal's body on the ground took out his billiard cue. With the fully extended indestructible cue, Gold blocked the tentacle attack of the infected grunt. The Johto Dex Holder then smashed the grunt's tentacle arm with the cue.

"You fucking abomination!" Gold roared in anger. He then stabbed through the ShadowNet grunt's head with the cue before stabbing the Unown in the eye with the bloodied cue.

"Gold," came a familiar female voice from behind. "Gold," the voice called again, but this time, sounded closer to a growl…

Gold turned to face the source and stood horrified. Crystal was back on her feet, with one of the transformed Unown attached to her chest, right above the heart… The girl's expression was still lifeless and blank. Her mouth opened and she started to growl. Due to the shattered right leg, the infected Crystal couldn't charge towards Gold, but limped towards him nonetheless with her arms outstretched forward.

"C – Crys…" Gold muttered in shock.

The infected Crystal growled as she swung her left arm at him. Gold blocked the attack with his billiard cue and started to tremble in horror as 3 tentacles started to form on the girl's left arm. The infected girl trudged towards him as he backed away.

"G – Gold… you… killed… me…" the infected Crystal growled out. It seemed that the Unown was accessing Crystal's memory…

"Crys… Please… don't make me do this…" Gold muttered as tears fell from his eyes. The infected girl only growled in response and continued to trudge closer. Gold shook his head and forced himself to make the hard decision. "Crys… I'm sorry… I love you Crys. I always have and I always will. I – I have no other choice… I will not let you be used like this… I hope you understand…"

When the infected girl came close enough, Gold took his bloodied billiard cue and prepared himself. He took aim at the Unown's eye and stabbed the billiard cue at the center as hard as he could possibly manage. He shut his eyes before the impact. But he still felt everything… The tip of the cue had stabbed through the Unown's eye, penetrated Crystal's soft flesh, smashed through a rib, and pierced the girl's heart before protruding through her back.

Gold couldn't bear to open his eyes. He pulled the billiard cue out and embraced Crystal's dead body when it fell towards him. Gold embraced her tight and kissed her on the forehead. He could feel her cold blood spilling from the wound on her chest. Gold risked opening his eyes. The first thing he saw would be etched into his memory forever: Crystal's blank lifeless eyes and cold dark blood flowing from her mouth… Gold couldn't stand looking at her lifeless eyes. He closed them for her and gingerly held on to her body as he dropped to his knees and cried. There was nothing else he could do…

After 30 minutes of crying, Gold lifted Crystal's body onto his arms and slowly made his way towards the remnants of Crystal's house. The least he could do was give the girl he loved a burial in her own backyard…

* * *

><p><strong>The WCHB shows another aspect of the original source of the Unown virus. Just because the host is dead, it doesn't mean these things can't infect them. The host won't be infected if their body is mangled beyond usability, but otherwise, they'll be used. And unlike the Unown virus, in the original source, just because the source of the infection is dead, it doesn't mean the infection reverses. The host is still a mutated freak, but just dead until another infection source comes by and enters.<strong>

**Now… though I said that SA will hold here until further notice, I'm going to override that. SA will still be under cancellation alert (nothing will change that), but it will continue. What do I mean? I mean, I'll always keep the thought of cancelling SA to a degree, but I'll continue it. The second time I get the urge to cancel, SA is gone. But I'm in a good mood nowadays. I'm fairly positive that I won't cancel SA. Check the SR of SA to see how close it is to being scrapped/continuing until the end.**

**By the way, for the 4 (increased from 3!) faithful reviewers, there is something that you may be interested in on the Faithful Reviewers category of the Mechanics section of my profile page. The addition is in bold. In general, pay attention to everything that's bolded above the News section, as they're important.**


	26. Long Night of Solace

**For those who are wondering, Platinum was in the KIA/MIA list at the end of last chapter because when SA #023 ended, the time was just before 4 am. Platinum ran into the infected Red around 3:30 and was knocked unconscious around 3:35 (hence Sapphire's failed attempts at contacting her at 3:40).**

* * *

><p>Chapter 24: Long Night of Solace<p>

August 17th, 3:45 am, Ruins of Alph…

Red blinked. The Unown that was controlling him seems to have become significantly weaker for some reason. He remembered there were 4 different presences in his mind excluding his own. But they started to vanish one by one and now, even the last remaining one was fading. And in an instant, he could feel his bodily senses being returned to him. He could feel his feet on the hard floor and even the ice cold tentacles on his left arm. He tried clenching his fist and was relieved to know that it worked.

Red could feel the Unown still attached to him between his neck and left shoulder. He clenched his right hand into a fist and punched the Unown in the eye as hard as he could manage. The moment he did, he felt the other presence in his mind completely disappear. And he couldn't tell what was happening. All he felt was disorientation and severe headache, so much that he couldn't maintain balance and stumbled forward a couple of steps. But a few minutes later, his vision reappeared along with the rest of his senses, and the disorientation faded. Red blinked a few times to make sure that his vision was real and not imagined. He took a brief look at his hands and legs, glad that he was back to normal. He felt around his face and felt his skin, nothing else.

"Whew… I'm back to normal," he muttered in relief. "But… what happened?" He then took a look around to see exactly where he was. He soon spotted something shocking. "Platinum!"

Red quickly knelt beside his junior, who was lying motionless on her side near the wall nearly 5 meters away from where he had been standing. Her eyes were closed and her skin felt rather cold. Red could see a big dark bruise on her right shoulder and another one on the elbow. And there was a set of dark bruises on her slender neck as well… He tried shaking her but received no response. Afraid that Platinum may have been killed, Red checked her pulse. He let out a long sigh of relief when he felt the girl's strong pulse against his fingers.

"Platinum," he called as he shook her by the shoulder. He still received no response.

Red carefully moved Platinum so that she would lie comfortably on her back. As he did so, he could see something rectangular sticking from inside his junior's scarf. Red reached into it and pulled out a remote-looking like device that had 100% displayed on a small screen. He had no idea what it was, so he set it on the floor and continued in trying to wake Platinum. He gently tapped her on the cheek and called her name again.

Platinum suddenly moved. She then gasped in pain and clutched at her right arm. Her left hand moved from her arm to her right side as she writhed silently. She appeared to be in excruciating pain as she rolled onto her left side and started to cough. But a couple of seconds later, the agony seems to have faded and she managed to open her eyes.

"Hey Platinum, are you okay?" Red asked.

The heiress slowly turned to look at him. The look of fear on her face was instantly replaced with relief and happiness. "S – Senior… Are you… back to normal?"

Red took a look at his arms and legs. "Sure seems like it. But what happened? What are you doing here?"

Platinum grunted in discomfort as she sat up. But she still managed to smile at her senior. "Senior Green had told me that he had lost contact with you, and I have come to find and aid you."

"You came here by yourself? How?"

"Senior Green had given me a prototype of a research project," Platinum answered. She saw the remote to her RLS system on the floor and picked it up.

Red sat in front of her as Platinum explained everything she knew about the shielding system and what she had gone through since the last time she saw him. His expression darkened when Platinum told him about what happened with Gold and Crystal. It became even darker when she explained of her… 'fight' with him while he was infected.

"So… I did that to you?" Red muttered as he looked at the big ugly bruises on his junior's skin.

"Um… yes," Platinum answered reluctantly. "But… you were under control, senior." She looked at the remote's display to ensure the RLS was functioning before she put the remote back inside her scarf. "But senior, I was sure that I failed in my task as I could not damage the last Unown to break you free. How are you back to normal?"

"I don't know. Maybe you did manage to kick and weaken it before… I… uh… hit you. I felt it growing weaker and weaker until I could punch it myself."

Platinum let out a sigh of relief. "At any rate, I am really glad that you are back to normal."

Red rose to his feet. "Thanks for coming for me, Platinum. Now let's get out of here and find the rest of our team."

"Yes, senior!"

The heiress struggled up to her feet. Though she managed to stand up, her legs were still wobbling and she was unsteady. As Red headed out of the room, Platinum tried her best to follow after picking up Emerald's E-shooter once again. Red glanced back and noticed that his junior was having trouble keeping up.

"Are you okay there?"

"Y – Yes," Platinum replied despite appearing to be out of breath.

Red felt terrible from inadvertently hurting his junior and decided to give her a help. When she came close enough, he gently lifted her onto his arms.

"Ah! S – Senior, what are you doing?" Platinum whispered out, appearing very embarrassed.

"Relax. We've done this once before, remember?"

"B – But… at that time…" Platinum stammered in embarrassment. But she soon forced herself to calm down. "Thank you, senior."

Red sent out his Pikachu and Espeon (his two smallest Pokémon) and headed towards the exit while his two Pokémon kept an eye on the surroundings. As he walked, he noticed that Platinum was starting to relax in his arms. She soon closed her eyes and rested her head against his arm.

"Hey, Platinum," Red said all of a sudden. Platinum quickly opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Mind if I ask you something?"

"Of course not, senior," the heiress replied.

"Why do you keep addressing me as 'senior' anyways? Gold does it too, but at least he doesn't talk so formally. Why are you so formal? Talk comfortably."

"You are my senior, senior Red," Platinum said. "I cannot be informal to my seniors."

"It just feels uncomfortable," Red said. "Can't you at least talk normally to me?"

Platinum appeared a little troubled as she thought. She soon shook her head. "I am awfully sorry, senior, but I cannot do such a thing."

"Why not?"

"It is because you are so much greater than I. You are one of the very first Dex Holders while I am one of the last. You are also very famous in Kanto while I am not known even in Sinnoh. You are the leader of your team while I am merely the youngest member. You are also 7 years older than me. As such, I must show you utmost respect. Even though you wish me to be less formal, I cannot do such a disrespectful act." Platinum suddenly appeared a little nervous and embarrassed again. "And… um… I do not know if you feel the same way, senior, but… … I like to think of you… as an older sibling that I never had."

"Really?" Red muttered, completely surprised by the comment. "Why?"

Platinum appeared even more embarrassed as she looked away from him. "I… um… I have always been envious of seniors Silver and Emerald. Senior Silver has senior Blue who looks after him while senior Emerald has senior Crystal. And out of everyone else, you have been taking care of me the most." Red didn't say anything and Platinum appeared ashamed. She covered her face with her hands and began to mumble. "I – I apologize, senior. I… understand if you think I am overly needy and even annoying…"

"What? No, it's not that," Red assured her. "I was just thinking that I might finally understand how Blue and Crys feel about Silver and Emerald."

"So… does that mean…" Platinum muttered as she lowered her hands.

"Yeah. I'm perfectly fine with the idea."

Platinum sighed in relief. "Oh, thank you very much, senior." She smiled happily and closed her eyes as she rested her head against Red's arm again.

"Huh… so you really are sensitive of what your seniors think of you," Red muttered.

Platinum nodded while she kept her eyes closed. "Yes… All of my seniors are so much more talented. I do not wish to appear weak and foolish."

"Well, don't worry about that. I think you're very strong and brilliant. Have more confidence in yourself."

"Yes, senior… and thank you very much… And senior?"

"Hm?"

Platinum smiled. "Senior Blue was right. This really is comfortable…"

Red realized what she was talking about. He remembered Blue and even Yellow saying how comfortable it was when he carried them in his arms. He didn't know that they had _spread_ the information to their juniors… But then a thought occurred.

'_When the hell did I carry Blue like that? It wasn't when her parents were kidnapped. She had gone into a state of coma at the time. Maybe…_' Red soon remembered the possible and probable time and he shook his head. '_Wow… when we first met and she scammed me. When I carried her into that tree's shadow, she was pretending to be unconscious and robbed me again… How the hell did she remember that? She must've told Yellow and… What am I, a comfort seat or something?!_' Red let out a short sigh and focused on the winding paths of the Ruins of Alph. '_Whatever. That's not important._' Red glanced at Platinum in his arms and realized that she had fallen asleep. It was understandable, as the girl was roughly kicked out of the hospital near midnight and had spent the next several hours looking for him in the quarantined Violet City.

Red carefully moved his arms so that the heiress could sleep comfortably. He now understood the motif behind some of Platinum's actions/expectations, such as… why exactly she had hoped that _he_ would come to rescue her from ShadowNet instead of anyone else, and why the heiress had come to save him first instead of everyone else who was in desperate situations. If there were suspicions that Gold had killed Crystal, then surely under normal circumstances, Platinum will go and try to find out what happened to the two Johto Dex Holders and not anyone else.

Red sighed as he looked ahead. At the moment, his team members were all blindly looking up to him. Gold was the first one to look up to him as a senior, Sapphire considered him to be her role model, Platinum looked up to him in many ways, and even the new kid, Black, had volunteered to be in his team so that he could learn about beating the Pokémon League. And so far, out of his four team members, two were still in trouble, and Red felt that it was his responsibility to go help them.

…

Meanwhile, Earl's Academy, Violet City…

…

"Crys… you're… you're alive?" Gold muttered, unable to believe his eyes.

Crystal was sitting in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall for support. She did have minor cuts all over the place and appeared to be favoring her left shoulder, but appeared to be very much alive. Her right leg wasn't misshapen. It had two steel bars on either side keeping it straight, and had a very thick layer of bandages wrapped around.

Gold knelt in front of her while trembling. He wanted to hug her and make sure that he wasn't dreaming, but seeing Crystal's expression made him realize that it wasn't going to happen. Though she appeared to be happy to see that he was freed from the Unown control, she seemed to be in a lot of pain still.

"Gold…" she muttered out weakly. "You're… back to normal?"

Gold started to tremble even more violently. "Crys… I'm so sorry…"

Crystal slowly and carefully reached out to him with her good hand and wiped away a falling tear from his cheek.

"Don't cry, Gold…" she said almost in a whisper. "This isn't your fault…"

Gold couldn't look at her, however. He backed away slightly and Crystal tried to follow him. She winced and grunted in pain as the slight angle adjustment in her body caused excruciating pain in her shattered leg. Gold quickly approached her again to see if he could help with anything, but Crystal had already forced the pain away.

"Crys, what happened? How did you get here?" Gold asked.

Crystal leaned against the wall again and took a short breath to calm down the pain. "They found me and brought me here," she said as she looked at the four children in the room.

"Who are they, anyways?" Sapphire asked.

Crystal managed to smile a little. "They're orphans that used to… live here, I guess. They're my little… troublemakers."

"Actually," one of the boys started. "We prefer the term… hell raiser."

Crystal shook her head. "Those four are the cause of like… 95% of all troubles in the orphanage. They're good friends with each other, but basically no one else." She gestured at the boy who was currently sharpening a long stick of wood. "He's Frederic."

"It's Fred," the boy said as he examined his sharpened stick.

Crystal moved on to the boy who kept his modified slingshot aimed at the doorway. "He's William."

The boy grunted as a reply. Apparently he didn't like being called William over the shortened name of Will.

Crystal moved on to the third boy who was salvaging the pile of broken walls and ceiling for construction grade nails. "He's Samuel."

The boy waved at the two guest Dex Holders. "Call me Sam."

The little girl walked over to Crystal with some antiseptic for the minor cuts.

"This one is-" Crystal said, but Gold interrupted her.

"Let me guess," he said as he began to think. "Her name is… Linda." Crystal shook her head. "… Kelly?" This time, the little girl shook her head.

"I don't know where you got those names, Gold," Crystal said. "But her name is Sarah."

"Oh…"

"By the way, Gold," Crystal started as she reached for her bag. Sarah got the bag for her and the Johto Dex Holder took out several Pokéballs. "Here. Your Pokémon were recovered from the ocean."

Gold took the Pokéballs and let out a long sigh of relief when he saw that his entire team was accounted for. "Thanks, Crys." He put his team away and looked over at Sapphire. "Hey Wildchild Girl, should we escape now, or what?"

"We would if we could," Sapphire answered. "I don't think Crystal can move at all. And even if we use aerial transport, in the middle of the night, we won't be able to leave the city without being attacked by the Gym Leaders who locked this city down. We have to wait until morning so they can recognize us from the distance."

"Alright then. I guess we'll hold out here until-" Gold was interrupted by a loud creepy growl coming from inside the ruins of Earl's Academy. "Looks like we have company…"

"What do we do?" Sapphire asked.

"Okay…" Gold muttered as he thought of a plan. "Sarah and Sam, stay here with Crys. Will, you're coming with me. Fred, go with Wildchild Girl. We're going to search throughout this place and remove any and all infected guys."

"Right. Let's go then," Sapphire said as she pumped a fist in the air. Fred gave her the long wooded stick he had been sharpening. "Thanks, Fred."

"Wait," Crystal said before the two groups left. "What are you going to do to them?"

"Stab at the eye of the Unown to reverse the infection," Gold answered.

"That won't work," Will said from behind. "We tried that."

"What? But I reversed the infection myself," Gold said.

"It's possible that if you stay infected for too long, it becomes permanent," Sapphire said. "Remember. People in Violet City have been infected since the very beginning."

"So what do we do?" Gold asked.

Just then, an infected ShadowNet grunt appeared from the doorway. The four hell raiser orphans each shot a nail at him with their modified slingshot. One hit the Unown's eye while the other three hit the grunt's chest and head.

"That," Fred answered. "We have no other choice."

Crystal closed her eyes and silently groaned as she thought of all the people of her hometown who were permanently affected. "… Just go," she muttered quietly. "And Gold," she said as she opened her eyes again.

"What is it?"

"… Be careful."

"Don't worry," Gold assured her. "I always am."

Crystal gave him a faint smile (not that he saw, as he avoided looking in her direction). "That's what you said the last time…"

Just then, Sapphire's headset emitted a static noise. She pressed the receive button and a familiar voice came from the earpiece.

"Sapphire, are you out there? This is Red…"

…

Violet City, 4:30 am…

…

Red glanced left and right to see if anything was nearby. Relieved that the coast was clear, he continued on. He had communicated with Sapphire half an hour ago and was relieved to hear that Gold and Crystal were alive and well. He still needed to get to them and Sapphire had gladly told him of her current position. He had no idea where Earl's Academy was, so Sapphire had to describe the surroundings.

Red looked at Platinum, who was still fast asleep in his arms. He knew that he'll need both hands and be as agile as possible if he wanted to get to Gold, Crystal, and Sapphire without running into trouble. But given how tired Platinum was and how much she had gone through, he couldn't bring himself to wake her up and get her to walk on her own.

Red managed to return Pikachu and Espeon back to their Pokéballs. Pikachu's Electric attacks would draw unwanted attention (as it created light) while Espeon might unknowingly lure more of the transformed Unown. It was possible that the Unown could detect Espeon's psychic power and attack in a swarm, after all.

But before long, Platinum woke up from her sleep. She climbed down from her senior's arms and stretched her tired body a little.

"Feeling better?" Red asked.

"Yes, senior," the heiress answered. She gave him a slight bow. "Thank you for taking care of me."

"It's nothing," Red said. "But listen. I managed to contact Sapphire and she said she found Gold and Crys. They're currently in the remnants of Earl's Academy."

Platinum looked rather excited and quite happy. "They are all okay? That is great, senior! We should go and help them immediately."

"Yeah, that's where I'm trying to do. Can you run?"

Platinum nodded and with her senior, steadily ran towards the remnants of Earl's Academy. Her right knee still hurt a little, but she ignored it and tried to keep up with Red.

Within 5 minutes, the two Dex Holders came across a huge pile of bodies near the Violet City Gym. It appeared as if several ShadowNet squads got surrounded by a giant horde of infected people and were overrun after a hellacious fight. Red got Platinum to look away while he examined the carnage. The uninfected bodies were quite badly mangled…

Red noticed that there were lots of weapons near the bodies and picked one up. He tried using it against the ground. The moment he pulled the trigger, the ShadowNet weapon fired a large single spike into the ground. The recoil was pretty strong, but… it did shoot Spike Cannon spikes. Red then picked up a different colored one and tested it. This weapon shot a small powerful electric ball… Electro Ball, it seemed.

Red gave Platinum the Electro Ball weapon, as it had no recoil. Platinum received it tested it herself. She dropped the ShadowNet weapon when it gave her a strong electric jolt despite the fact that she had it pointed at the ground.

"You okay?" Red asked worriedly.

"Y – Yes," Platinum said as she shook away the effects of the jolt.

Red looked back and forth between Platinum and the ShadowNet weapon before he took off his gloves. He gave them to Platinum.

"Here. Put these on. They're insulated so you won't be affected by the jolt."

Platinum bowed in gratitude before she put the black fingerless-despite-insulating gloves on. She adjusted the diamond and pearl rings on her fingers before picking up and testing the Electro Ball weapon again. This time, she didn't feel a thing.

Now armed with ShadowNet weapons, the two Dex Holders continued towards Earl's Academy.

…

Meanwhile, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh…

…

Blue sat in the shadow of a large tree and tried to catch her breath. There were infected people all over the place. The Gym Leaders and the Elite Four of Sinnoh have quarantined the area _very_ well, and as a result, none of the infected people have escaped. Unfortunately, this also meant that _all_ of the infected people were still crammed in the small town of Solaceon.

Blue grumbled as she scanned the area. Was it really so hard for Team Rocket to help her? If not the entire organization, then why not just Sabrina? The Saffron Gym Leader could've stayed around to help instead of leaving with Teleport the moment she dragged the Kanto Dex Holder into the quarantined town. If Sabrina could use Teleport to get to Solaceon from Viridian that easily, why the hell didn't she use it to get to Silver when he was in trouble? Did it take too much energy or something?

The Kanto Dex Holder sighed. At least Giovanni did give her the gift he promised when he caught her sneaking in the Viridian HQ a while back. The gift was in the form of a newly developed invisibility suit that generated a small field around the user that rendered the user completely invisible. Blue didn't like thinking about _how_ Team Rocket developed such a thing. She imagined that a lot of experiments were done in Starmies and Kecleons.

She was also worried that all of Team Rocket would be equipped with such a tool and aim for world domination, but Giovanni had promised her that they only made 1 such device and that they wouldn't be making any more. Blue decided to trust him seeing how he let her go free despite capturing her the second time.

Currently, Blue had searched through Solaceon Town for… 4 hours now, but she found absolutely no traces of Silver.

Blue reached up to her headset and tried to contact Silver again. "Silver," she said, her voice shaking. She was becoming more and more desperate and had to fight to stop herself from crying. "I – I don't care if you're one of them or not. Please. Just… respond." There was still no response. "Silver… I am giving you a direct order. Infected or not, _respond_!"

Blue wiped away a forming tear as she believed that Silver was really gone. But then she heard something from her headset…

"… Sis… you don't want to see me right now…"

"Silver?" Blue muttered, not believing what she heard. "Silver? Is that you?" There was no response this time. Blue jumped to her feet. "Silver, listen. No matter what happened to you, no matter what you did, I'll always love you. There is nothing that you can do that'll stop me from wanting to see you. I've known you for 16 years now, Silver. No matter what happens, I won't let you go. So please. Tell me where you are."

"… Pokémon Center…"

"I'm on my way. Don't move, Silver," Blue said hastily as she began to run. She hit the button on her invisibility suit (which she hid underneath her normal clothes, as the 'suit' was more like a… small, thin sleeveless shirt that had all sorts of circuits going all over the place) so that she would be safe from wandering infected people.

Blue arrived at the Pokémon Center within 3 minutes. The automatic door opened and she entered the well-lit Pokémon Center. On the other side of the building, she could see Silver facing the wall while sitting on a chair. Blue deactivated her invisibility suit and ran up to him.

"Silver!"

Silver didn't turn to look at her yet. "Sis…"

Blue put a hand over her heart and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "Silver, let me see you. Come on, you can tell me what happened."

Silver let out a long sigh. "Don't get surprised…"

Silver slowly turned around. Blue saw him and gasped in shock as she took a couple of steps backwards.

"Silver… that… mask," she stammered out. "Mask of Ice…"

"I know… that why I didn't want you to see me," Silver replied.

Blue shook her head. "No… it can't be. He can't be back."

"That's what I thought too," Silver said. "I don't really know what happened. An Unown got to me but… I didn't end up like everyone else. But this… thing formed on my face and… I can't get rid of it. I saw my reflection and…"

Blue approached her junior and hugged him. "That doesn't matter, Silver. All I care is that you're okay. I've been so worried…"

Silver hugged her back. "Sorry…"

Blue pulled back and looked at him from head to toe. "But if you were taken by the Unown, how come I can't see it?"

"It's… inside me. I can feel it. It feels exactly the same as being under control of the Mask of Ice. It seriously bothers me."

Blue hugged him again. "We'll worry about that later. For now, let's just focus on getting out of here."

"Okay."

"And Silver, I want you to tell me if anything is wrong, okay? I mean… you're… all I have left in this world. If you don't tell me the truth and hide things from me, who do I have left?"

Silver pulled back. "What do you mean?" Blue didn't answer and simply sighed. She turned away for a few seconds and when she turned to look at him again, he could see a few tears falling from her eyes. "… Sis?"

Blue wiped away her tears. "… My parents are dead, Silver… You're the only family I have left in this world…"

Silver appeared very surprised. He gently embraced her and tried to comfort her. "I'm really sorry, sis."

"Let's just… get out of here," Blue said as she pulled away. "I'll fill you in on what happened since you left once we're safe."

…

Violet City, 5 am…

…

Red and Platinum soon came across the ruins of Earl's Academy. They could hear a lot of commotion going on from the inside and quickly headed towards the entrance. Red quickly turned around and kept his ShadowNet weapon aimed ahead, in case any of the infected people came by. Platinum kept her ShadowNet weapon aimed at the entrance of Earl's Academy as she quickly approached it.

Platinum proceeded to enter the remnants of Earl's Academy when something small was shot at her. The heiress didn't have enough time to evade and it hit her in the chest. Or it would have, if her RLS system wasn't working. The small object simply bounced off the shields and Platinum quickly backed away.

"What are you doing?! That's rookie!" came Sapphire's voice from the inside.

"Senior Sapphire? Is that you?" Platinum asked.

"Rookie? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am okay."

Soon, Sapphire came out from the entrance and Platinum saw her. The heiress gasped in shock and backed away, with her ShadowNet weapon aimed at her. Red saw her and aimed his ShadowNet weapon at Sapphire as well.

"Whoa! Hey, it's me!" Sapphire said as she raised her hands in the air. "I'm not one of them!"

Platinum soon lowered her weapon and approached her senior. She examined Sapphire for a second before she suddenly embraced her.

"Senior! You are okay! I was so worried!"

"Rookie, you're okay too!" Sapphire exclaimed happily. She looked over at Red and… "Red! You really are okay! I can't believe it!"

Sapphire quickly ran over to her senior and basically jumped onto him. She gave him a suffocating embrace for a second before releasing him.

"Well, uh… it's nice to know that you're all alive and well," Red said once he could breathe again.

"As long as you're doing okay, as long as you're alive and you need us, Gold and I will not be able to die," Sapphire said with a smile. "I'm sure rookie feels the same way. As long as you need us, we will _not_ die."

Platinum nodded. "That is true, senior. Various books I have read encourage honor and loyalty. I will not be disgraced by death while you still require my assistance. No matter what happens, I will survive to be of your help again."

Red let out a short sigh. '_They really are blindly looking up to me…_'

Sapphire quickly turned to look at the remnants of Earl's Academy when she heard a growl coming from the inside. She soon remembered what she was supposed to have been doing.

"Oh, right… Gold's still fighting in there…"

Sapphire quickly reentered the remnants of Earl's Academy. Red and Platinum followed so that they may assist the other Dex Holders inside.

After 10 minutes, the Dex Holders and the orphans were certain that none of the infected people were in the ruins of Earl's Academy. While the orphans defended key hallways, the Dex Holders all stayed in the central classroom with Crystal.

Crystal was still sitting in the corner leaning against the wall. She currently had her Parasect out so that it could mix various types of spores from inside itself to create a powerful painkiller. Maybe it was because of a previous dose, Crystal seemed to be very relaxed and carefree (for once).

"Hey… Red," she called with a relaxed smile. "You're okay too, huh?"

"Crys, you doing okay?" Red asked as he crouched in front of his horribly injured junior.

"I've had better days," the girl answered.

"So senior Red," Gold started. "What are we going to do now? Crys needs to get to a hospital as soon as possible."

"Right. Normally, we won't be able to fly out of the city because of the quarantine," Red said. "But now that we have enough people, I think we can get out of the city on foot. We should be able to protect Crys and defend ourselves at the same time."

"But even if we do escape," Platinum said with a worried expression. "I do not think that senior Crystal will be able to get to a hospital. The citizens of Kanto and Johto are angry at the Dex Holders. The people of Viridian City chased me and senior Blue out of the hospital."

Red crossed his arms and thought for a second. "At any rate, we should get out of here. Once we get back to Pallet Town, we could figure something out."

Sapphire sniffed at the air and focused on her hearing for a few seconds. "Yeah… We should really get going. The infected people are starting to gather outside this place. I think they have our scent or something."

"Then they must _love_ the smell of badass!" Gold said as he extended his billiard cue, ready to fight his way out.

Red gave him his ShadowNet weapon, but Gold refused, so he gave it to Sapphire instead. Gold apparently wanted to _personally_ beat the infected people, as he had a grudge against the failed ShadowNet project for forcing him to severely hurt Crystal.

Red approached Crystal and carefully lifted her onto his arms. Despite the powerful painkiller, Crystal still grunted and groaned in pain caused by her leg. But once the pain in her leg subsided, she seemed to regain the painkiller-induced relaxed nature.

"Hey…" Crystal muttered with a relaxed smiled. "Blue was right… This really is comfortable…"

Red shook his head slightly. Even Crystal was going to consider him like a comfort seat… But that wasn't important. The 5 Dex Holders soon headed out of the remnants of Earl's Academy with the 4 orphans following. The 4 orphans surrounded Red and Crystal in a circular formation. Gold stayed in front of the group while Platinum was at the left and Sapphire at the right.

The group headed towards the eastern exit of Violet City as fast as they could. But when they passed under a still-upright apartment building, a large group of 40~50 infected ShadowNet grunts dropped from the apartment onto the group of Dex Holders. Chaos immediately pursued.

One infected grunt landed right in front of Red. The Kanto Dex Holder quickly kicked the infected grunt down. The grunt staggered backwards but charged forward, swinging his tentacle-arm at Crystal. Before the tentacles hit, Gold's billiard cue blocked it.

"The hell you do!" the goggled boy yelled angrily. He smashed the cue into the infected grunt's chest and began unleashing his pent up aggression.

The 4 orphans shot wave after wave of construction grade nails from their modified slingshots at the closest infected grunts. When they ran out of nails, they plucked the nails from the dropped bodies and reused them.

Platinum and Sapphire used their ShadowNet weapons until the power ran out. Afterwards, Sapphire threw the depleted ShadowNet weapon at the nearest infected grunt. She then charged at him and proceeded to punch and kick him until he dropped. She ducked as another infected grunt attacked her and delivered an uppercut to knock the grunt down.

Platinum used her depleted ShadowNet weapon to block an incoming attack and hit the grunt with one end of the weapon. The heiress lacked the strength and reflexes of Sapphire to start with, and didn't receive a boost from an Unown like her. As a result, Platinum was unable to properly block the next attack from behind and was knocked off her feet. The RLS system still held but she dropped the ShadowNet weapon that she was using as a melee weapon. An infected grunt jumped in the air so that it would land on top of her. Platinum tracked the oncoming body and lifted her legs so that the grunt's body would hit her feet instead. She then rolled back to her feet and elbowed the nearest infected grunt in the face. She crouched to avoid an attack and delivered a series of punches to the stomach.

The infected grunt kicked her in the chest and she was knocked off her feet again. Platinum kicked the charging grunt again and struggled up to her feet. A different infected grunt struck her with his tentacles and followed it up with a kick. While the RLS system successfully repelled the tentacles, the kick broke through and hit the heiress in the back.

Platinum grunted as she tried to get back to her feet. Instead, another infected grunt tried to jump on top of her and she had to roll out of the way. The heiress was about to kick the infected grunt in the knees when the grunt suddenly dropped. Platinum sat up and saw that the infected grunt had a single big leaf sticking out of his chest.

The heiress tried to understand where that leaf came from when another infected grunt tried to hit her. She was about to try to block or dodge the attack when that grunt dropped as well, with another leaf sticking from his chest. Platinum looked behind her and immediately beamed in joy when she saw a very familiar boy running closer with a Torterra beside him.

The remaining infected grunts all reached for their own affected Pokéballs, realizing that a Pokémon battle was about to ensue. Red saw the changes and looked at Gold and Sapphire.

"Gold, Sapphire! Prepare for battle!" he ordered. "Forget about remaining under the radar. It's not going to happen."

Gold smashed another infected grunt and reached for Ho-oh's Pokéball. "Got it. All these freaks are going to _burn_!"

Sapphire reached for her Pokéballs as well. But before she could, a Solarbeam and Flamethrower flew overhead and struck the group of infected grunts and their affected Pokémon. She glanced backwards and saw two familiar figures with an Infernape and Sceptile beside them. Realizing that some of the other Dex Holders have come to help, Sapphire sent out her Blaziken and Aggron and prepared to neutralize the remaining infected grunts.

In a span of 3 seconds, the remaining infected ShadowNet grunts ended up facing a team of Pokémon consisting of Poliwrath, Ho-oh, Sceptile, Blaziken, Aggron, Infernape, and Empoleon at once. But lacking the ability to decide on matters, the infected grunts charged forward and got quickly mowed down.

"Nice of you to join us," Red said as he looked at Emerald, Diamond, and Pearl.

Emerald quickly ran close to check Crystal's condition. The girl was asleep at the moment, but it was evident that she was alive. The Hoenn Dex Holder let out a long sigh of relief. At the same time, Diamond helped Platinum up to her feet. The heiress stumbled a little, practically falling into his embrace, much to his joy. Platinum appeared a little embarrassed but was still delighted to see that her friends have come to help. When Pearl came close, the heiress hugged both of her friends in a tight embrace.

"Thank you so much for coming," she said happily. "And Diamond, thank you for saving me once again."

Diamond sheepishly rubbed her back. Pearl looked at him and gave a series of eye signals, telling him to try to take full advantage of this new development.

Sapphire looked at the newly arrived help. "So… did you guys come here by yourselves, or did Green send you here?"

"Green sent us here," Emerald answered. "People of Pallet Town still trust us and know that we're on their side. And with news of additional help coming, Green decided to send half of the remaining Dex Holders to help you guys."

"Additional help?" Sapphire asked. "From where?"

Emerald pointed at the sky in the distance. Sapphire looked over in that direction and squinted. Gold looked as well and saw a large flying object floating in the distance.

"Wildchild Girl, what's that?" he asked.

"That's… the blimp of the Hoenn Pokémon Association…"

* * *

><p><strong>If the Dex Holders aren't going over to Hoenn any time soon, then I might as well bring Hoenn to them.<strong>

**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: NONE… for now, at any rate.**

**Apparently various parts of SA hinted at a possible Red & Platinum pairing (unintentional). To neutralize such an idea, I've included Red's and Platinum's views at the bond between them. Red's view being strictly neutral. He only sees Platinum as a valued team member and a reliable junior. Platinum sees Red as… well, as she says in the chapter itself. None of that whole Red & Platinum nonsense. On the pairings, I'm always consistent throughout S-EARL. Though the pairings aren't in focus in SR, it's clear that any and all pairings in it is the same as in SE/SA/SL.**

**I have sent a message to all the faithful reviewers who did not say anything about their SA benefit since the last chapter. If you did not receive a message, that means you either a) knew about the benefit and explicitly stated that you will 'cash in' this opportunity at a later date while it still applies, or b) you're not a faithful reviewer.**

**I have a feeling that quite a few of the faithful reviewers (there are 8 now) will use 1 of the 3 benefit chances at the end of the next SA update… But in case no one decides to use it, I could pull off multiple evil tactics to convince the faithful reviewers to use them… Those who are reading SL will know exactly how evil I can be.**


	27. Uprising

**All of S-EARL might face significant changes shortly. By 'significant', I mean it involves **_**removing**_** 7 of the 15 Dex Holders. Check the General News section under the News category on my profile for details.**

**And S-EARL will go through little to no changes to reflect Volume 42 of Pokémon Special. Volume 42 kind of screwed with the first part of SA (will be worked around). I just hope Volume 43 doesn't do the same with the second part.**

**And for those who were worried that I cancelled SA… Like I said, I can't cancel SA anymore now that it has… 9 (quite possibly 10 soon) faithful reviewers. I've just been a little occupied with SR's Containment series that's more related to SA than it appears.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 25: Uprising<p>

August 17th, 6 am, Route 31, Johto…

The Dex Holders passed the blockades set up by the Johto Gym Leaders and had a slight reunion once they were safe. Apart from Green, Blue, Yellow, Silver, and Ruby, all the Dex Holders were present. Black and White were quite happy upon reuniting with their seniors, as they were worried about the fates of the Dex Holders who have entered the quarantined Violet City.

Diamond and Pearl supported Platinum from either side, ensuring that she was perfectly okay. Emerald was busy talking to the 'infamous' four hell raiser orphans he had heard so much about from Crystal. Sapphire was explaining to Black and White about her 'mask' thing. Gold simply stared at Crystal silently, who was still asleep in Red's arms.

"Hey Gold, do you want to take over?" Red asked as he looked over at his junior.

Gold still stared at Crystal for a second before he slowly shook his head. "No… I think it'd be best for Crys if I stay away from her."

"Come on, Gold. If you were controlled, you can't be held responsible for what you did," Red said. "It's not your fault."

"Crys said that too," Gold muttered. "She said that it wasn't my fault. But no matter what anyone says, there is no denying. It _was_ my fault. It _is_ my fault. If I had listened to her and paid more attention to my surroundings… I wouldn't have been infected by those things and Crys wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Red was about to say something when Crystal suddenly gasped and groaned. He looked down at her and saw her clutching her shattered leg with her good arm.

"Crys, you okay?"

"N – No…" the girl gasped out. She still had her eyes clenched shut as she tried to withstand the pain. It seemed that once the painkiller wore off, the shattered leg was causing too much pain for her to remain asleep.

Everyone in the vicinity all gathered around her to see if they could help with anything. Gold, however, kept his distance. He put his hands in his pocket and turned away, unable to watch Crystal suffer because of him.

"Hey Emerald, can you get the Hoenn Pokémon Association blimp over here?" Sapphire asked. "I know they have something like a portable hospital there."

"Yeah, sure." Emerald quickly took out his Pokégear and started to call.

"S – Someone… get… Parapeon…" Crystal said weakly in between grunts.

White reached into Crystal's bag (she was 'voted' to be the one carrying all the bags…) and took out Parasect's Pokéball. Once the Parasect came out, it immediately started to mix various spores to create another powerful dose of painkiller. The Parasect soon released a small cloud of the mixed painkiller directly at Crystal. All of the other Dex Holders held their breath so that they wouldn't be affected by the spores. Crystal inhaled the spores and steadily calmed down. Once the spores dissipated enough, White approached Gold who still remained as far away from Crystal as possible.

"So… what exactly happened?" she asked. "I heard some details, but…"

Gold sighed and quietly began to explain what happened on the top floor of the Sprout Tower. He let out another sigh before the finish. "… I threw her off the tower…"

White seemed quite surprised, but tried her best to comfort her senior. "It sounds to me that you actually saved her. This Unown virus was trying to kill her but you saved her."

"Don't try to convince me, Bossy Gal," Gold muttered as he walked away.

"… Bossy?"

Gold only took a few steps before he stopped. He wasn't going to leave Crystal. He was going to stay around and make sure no bad things happen to her, but he would keep some distance in case the 'bad thing' was him.

Within 10 minutes, the Hoenn Pokémon Association's blimp landed next to the Dex Holders. Being the most familiar with the people on the blimp, Sapphire ran towards the door. The door soon opened and someone came into view. The Hoenn Dex Holder gasped in shock.

"… Coach?"

From the doorway, Winona waved at her pupil with a bright smile. "Hi, Sapphire!"

"I thought you were dead!" Sapphire yelled happily as she ran towards her coach. She gave her a bone-cracking embrace, as she wasn't accustomed to the third stage of the Unown infection that had boosted her strength and reaction…

"Ow, ow… Sapphire, take it easy," the Fortree Gym Leader said as she tried to loosen Sapphire's grip. "Sorry I couldn't let you know sooner. We were all very busy for the past couple of days."

"But you're okay! That's all I care about!" Sapphire said happily. "I wanted to return to Hoenn as soon as possible when I heard what happened, but…"

"Oh, you know that it wasn't a good idea." Winona looked at her pupil intently. "Sapphire, what's with the… mask?"

"I've been… um… infected by the Unown," Sapphire answered truthfully. She removed one of her gloves and showed the back of her hand to her coach. "But thanks to my previous… _experiences_, I'm immune to their mind-control capabilities."

"Well… it looks like you've been through quite a bit yourself then," Winona muttered. "I'm proud to know that you're doing so well here."

Soon, various volunteers from Hoenn came out of the blimp and introduced themselves to the Dex Holders. Sapphire recognized the Gym Leaders, but not some of their assistants and other volunteers.

"Sapphire, where's Ruby?" Wallace asked as he came close.

The girl's expression slightly darkened as she thought about Ruby who was still deep inside the ShadowNet building in Goldenrod City. "He's pretending to be on ShadowNet's side so he can destroy them from the inside. He said he'll contact me when he's ready."

"Ruby's on their side?" someone asked as he came close.

Sapphire looked at him. The boy appeared… a little sick. He had green hair, green eyes, and wore clothes that had a slight shade of green as well. "Um… who are you?"

"I'm Wally. Ruby's friend," the boy said after a cough. "Is he really on their side?"

"Oh, so you're Wally," Sapphire said. "Ruby did talk about you every now and then. And no, he's only pretending to be on their side. If you're his friend, then would you like to come with me when he contacts me?"

"Sure. I'll gladly help if I can."

There was a sudden static in Sapphire's headset. She pressed a button and soon heard Ruby's voice in her ears.

"Sapphire, I think it's time. Wait outside the ShadowNet building and begin your attack once you hear an explosion in 30 minutes."

Sapphire looked at Wallace and Wally. "Ruby says it's time. So we should head for Goldenrod right now."

"Very well then," Wallace said. "Winona, you stay here and focus on recovering. But as always, you're in charge of the other Gym Leaders, so do as you wish."

"Oh yeah, Coach?" Sapphire said as she looked at the Fortree Gym Leader. She took out a Pokéball from her bag and handed it to her. "Here. I think I should return your Altaria now."

Winona took the Pokéball and looked at the Altaria flapping its wings happily at her. She smiled and it and looked at Sapphire with a warm smile. "Thanks Sapphire. And good luck."

Once Sapphire, Wallace, and Wally left for Goldenrod City, all the other Dex Holders entered the Hoenn Pokémon Association blimp and headed back towards Pallet Town. Crystal was immediately taken to the medical unit on the blimp for a series of operations on her shattered leg. While Gold and Emerald waited outside the medical unit, the other Dex Holders tried to get some rest on the way towards Pallet Town.

…

An hour later, Pallet Town, Kanto, 7 am…

…

The Hoenn Pokémon Association's blimp landed next to Professor Oak's laboratory and the Dex Holders soon scattered. Crystal was asleep/unconscious in the medical unit, while the volunteering doctors from Hoenn operated on her shattered leg and checked on the dislocated shoulder that had been roughly jammed back into place by certain hell raiser orphans. Gold and Emerald remained rooted outside the medical unit, waiting for the results of the operation.

While Black and White explained to Red what happened since he left for Violet City a while ago, Diamond and Pearl took Platinum to another room. The 'outer' reason was so that the heiress could explain to her two friends what she had gone through in Violet City. The actual reason was so that Diamond could have his second chance in telling Platinum how he felt. The heiress didn't notice anything, as she was still way too glad to see her closest friends again.

As Platinum described her mission in Violet City, Pearl gave her an approving nod while Diamond looked at her with worry. Pearl was quite proud that the heiress single handedly succeeded in such a difficult task while Diamond was relieved that the girl survived but was still worried about her getting hurt.

"I'm really glad you're okay, Lady," Diamond said as he held her hands. "If you got hurt again, I would never forgive myself."

Platinum gave him a bright and warm smile. "Thank you for your concern, Diamond. I really do appreciate it."

Pearl gave Diamond a series of signals with his eyes. Platinum didn't see them, as she was sheepishly looking into Diamond's. Diamond took a deep breath and held it out of sheer nervousness. Platinum looked a little confused as she stared at his face. His face was turning a little red from lack of air…

"Diamond? Is something wrong?"

"N – No," the relaxed Dex Holder said after releasing his held breath. "B – But there is something I really need to tell you."

Platinum observed his expression and appeared a little anxious. "What is it?"

"I… really like you."

The heiress smiled. "I know. You have told me once before. It means a lot to me to know that you appreciate me as much as I appreciate you."

Pearl gave Diamond another eye signal. He then quickly turned away from his two friends so that the two would feel as if they were alone.

"No, what I mean is…" Diamond said even more nervously.

"What?" Platinum asked. She was looking at him quite intently and it made him really nervous.

Diamond gently rubbed her hands and took a nervous gulp. "I… lo-"

"Platinum," Black said as he suddenly barged into the room. "Your father wants to talk to you in private over the picture phone."

"Oh. Thank you," the heiress said. She looked at Diamond with an apologetic expression. "I am sorry, Diamond, but I must go. We will continue our conversation later," she said as she let go of Diamond's hands and rose to her feet. She headed towards the room with the picture phone and closed the door behind her, as her father wanted a private conversation.

Once Platinum left, Pearl smacked a hand on his face. Diamond let out a long sigh. The two instantly glared at their older junior. Black looked back and forth between his two younger seniors, noticing the fiery anger in Pearl's deadly glare and ice-cold rage in Diamond's.

"… What?" Black asked as he took a step backwards. "Did I… interrupt something?"

…

Meanwhile, Sandgem Town, Sinnoh…

…

"What are you doing?! Unhand me, you criminals!"

"Quiet, if you know what's good for you and your daughter."

"What? My daughter? What about her? If you want money…"

"We don't want money. We want your daughter's life."

"What? Please do not harm her… I-"

"You shouldn't beg us for your daughter's life. After all, _you_ were the one who took it from her."

"I… do not understand."

"You will shortly."

…

A few minutes later, Pallet Town, Kanto…

…

Red, Diamond, Pearl, Black, and White were sitting around a table, discussing future actions. Since Blue was missing and Crystal wasn't in any condition to move, White was in charge of interpreting ShadowNet information and trying to trace any hints to the ShadowNet boss. And so far, the Unova Dex Holder found exactly one piece of information. The small bug Silver planted on one of the ShadowNet grunts was transmitting a signal back and forth between the Lake of Rage and Route 43 in Johto. But with multiple Dex Holders being injured, missing, or scattered here and there, there weren't a lot of options. Green and Yellow have gone to Celadon City to make a broadcast all around Kanto to convince the people to trust them. Gold and Emerald were at the Hoenn Pokémon Association blimp, watching over Crystal. Sapphire had left for Goldenrod City to help Ruby, leaving only a handful of tired Dex Holders in Pallet Town. Red eventually decided to give the rookies a try. They were the only ones who weren't tired at all and never really partook in any mission. He was going to send Black and White over to Route 43 and see what ShadowNet was up to while he tried to do _something_ with that Unown-infected girl that White had brought over. Sure, he had no idea how to use the research equipment in Professor Oak's laboratory, but he could just watch the infected girl's behavior and see if he could detect anything.

Just then, Platinum came back out, having finished the phone call to her father. Diamond looked over at her and realized that she looked absolutely devastated. He quickly ran over to her.

"Lady, what's wrong?" he asked as he held onto her hands.

Platinum didn't answer him and instead, used him to maintain balance. She appeared very unsteady on her feet. She staggered towards Red, who was looking at her with a worried expression.

"Platinum, what happened?" he asked.

"S – Senior," Platinum muttered out. "Do you remember what I said to you earlier today?"

"That you look up to me like a brother?"

"No… the other…"

Red had to think for a second. The other important thing that the girl said to him that day… He soon remembered. Technically, Sapphire started it and Platinum just added to her statement.

"… That you won't be disgraced by death while I still need your help?"

Platinum nodded. "Yes… Please… please tell me that you no longer require my assistance…"

The four other Dex Holders all jumped in surprise. Red and Pearl quickly ran over to her while Diamond was stammering in panic. Black and White both approached their younger senior while thinking of what to say.

"L – Lady, wh – what are you saying?" Diamond stammered out.

Platinum looked into his eyes and he was able to see exactly how troubled she was. She was trembling quite badly and appeared to be on the verge of hyperventilation. She returned her focus on Red.

"Senior… please. Please tell me you no longer need me…"

"No. Platinum, I still need your help, and I always will."

Platinum's lips started to quiver as she looked at her senior rather spitefully. "V – Very well, then…" She broke free from Diamond's practical embrace and glanced at all of the other Dex Holders. "I – I am already a disgrace… There is no possible way I can be disgraced even more…"

Before she finished, she ran towards the kitchen. The other Dex Holders hastily dashed towards her when the girl took out a knife from the kitchen drawer.

"Lady, no!" Diamond yelled in panic as Platinum proceeded to stab herself in the heart.

But luckily for him, and perhaps unfortunately for the girl, the knife didn't touch her, as it was successfully deflected by the RLS system. Platinum clenched her teeth and tried again and again, but the shielding system still deflected the blade. She then tried slowly this time so the sensor would not trigger the shield. Thankfully, Diamond quickly took the knife away from her before the blade could touch her and Red dragged her away from the kitchen.

"Platinum, calm yourself," Red said with a stern expression. He grabbed onto the girl's arms so that she wouldn't be able to do anything. He was careful to avoid putting pressure on her right forearm, due to her injury. "Now tell me what's wrong."

The girl kept her head down but didn't respond. She was trembling even more now as she fought the urge to cry.

"Platinum," White said nicely from the side. "Come on. Tell us what's bothering you. You can't keep these kinds of thoughts to yourself. You have to talk and let it out."

The Sinnoh girl glanced at her once but still refused to say anything. She looked down at the floor and started to sob. As the surrounding Dex Holders tried to calm her down, she eventually couldn't resist and burst into tears. She dropped onto her knees and wailed, to the point where she couldn't breathe. Diamond knelt in front of her and tried to calm her down. Pearl decided to take advantage of this situation and pushed Red, Black, and White away, leaving Diamond all alone with Platinum.

"Pearl, why are we out here?" White asked once she was out of the lab. "Shouldn't we be trying to calm Platinum?"

Pearl shook his head. "No. Right now, Dia's the only one who can calm Miss Lady down. And he's the only one who _should_ try to calm her down. We should just use this time to deal with ShadowNet or something."

"I don't think I can go all the way to Route 43 right now, knowing that Platinum just tried to kill herself," White said.

"What do you think is bothering her that much?" Black asked. "I mean, it had to be pretty big for her to try to kill herself."

White sighed. "No matter what happened, it's still not right for her to kill herself. What about her family and friends? Is she going to kill herself without even explaining why? Doesn't she care about their feelings?"

"We'll let Dia find out what exactly is bothering Miss Lady. He's kind of good at that, really. He's good with emotions and stuff, which is probably why Mesprit picked him during our travels."

Inside the lab, Diamond sat in front of Platinum with a box of soft tissues. The girl showed no signs of calming down anytime soon, however. So instead, Diamond figured the best course of action would be to let her cry all the sorrow out of her system. He shifted his position so he was sitting right beside her. Platinum continued to weep and didn't seem to care about the tears streaming down her cheeks and soaking her scarf. The relaxed Dex Holder took a tissue and tried to wipe away Platinum's tears as they formed. The girl turned away from him, however, so he stopped.

But as Diamond put his arm around Platinum's trembling shoulders, he couldn't help but wonder what happened to her. She even tried to kill herself and was weeping nonstop. Did her father die or something? Was he infected by the Unown virus? But that wouldn't explain why Platinum would consider killing herself. And what did she mean by being a disgrace? Since Platinum wasn't going to talk anytime soon, Diamond tried to piece things together given the hints.

The girl appeared perfectly happy before the private video phone call with her father, and appeared absolutely devastated afterwards. But since she did call her father, it was clear that nothing bad had happened to Sir Berlitz. So she must've been devastated by what her father had said to her. Platinum said that she was a disgrace and tried to kill herself. Given her proud personality, she would only consider such a thing if she felt that she was put to shame beyond reversal. But given her father's personality, there was no way that he would say anything extreme to her…

An hour later, Platinum seems to have _finally_ calmed down enough to care about her scarf getting drenched in tears. She seemed even more unsteady than before as she struggled up to her feet and headed towards the nearest washroom to try to calm down. Diamond cleaned up the tears that got on the floor before he followed Platinum. He waited outside the washroom for the girl to come back out. While waiting, he could hear her continuously sniffling and whimpering. She came back out after 10 minutes, having removed all traces of dried tears on her face.

"Lady… Are you doing okay?" Diamond asked nicely.

Platinum didn't say anything, but shook her head as a reply. Diamond looked into her eyes. She appeared to be very tired, given the dark circles and bloodshot eyes. So he gently led her to the rooms where Blue team slept. Since Blue's room was the only one with a bed, Diamond took Platinum there. His senior was missing, but he was sure that she'd understand if she returned anytime soon.

Platinum sat on the bed and took off her hair clips. Diamond took off her scarf and put it on the small table next to the bed. He was about to take the girl's hat when she simply lied down. She turned her back to him and began to crawl up into a ball. Diamond really wanted to find out what Platinum's father had said to her, but he decided that the girl's comfort was more important and let her sleep. He tucked her in as best as he could and sat on the floor on the opposite side of the room. Since Platinum was very distraught, there was no telling what she might do. And as such, Diamond decided that he was going to have to keep an eye on her at all times. It really pained him to see her so devastated. Even as she was trying to go to sleep, she continuously sniffled and occasionally whimpered.

And although Diamond despised himself for this, he was going to take advantage of Platinum's distress. This was an opportunity for him to stay with the girl and comfort her. And by doing so, she would perhaps begin to love him as well. Even if she doesn't, it was still a nice opportunity to get even closer to her.

…

1 hour ago, Goldenrod City, Johto, 7 am…

…

Sapphire waited anxiously on top of a tree that was north of the ShadowNet's HQ. After a short discussion, it was decided that Sapphire would move in from the north, Wally from the south, and Wallace from the east. But because the Hoenn Dex Holder was the only one with a headset for fast communication, Wallace and Wally were going to remain outside the ShadowNet building so that they would be able to escape quickly should the building collapse. Their role was to attack the building from the outside and gain the attention of as many ShadowNet grunts as possible so that Sapphire could easily go inside and assist Ruby without trouble.

Sapphire stared at the ShadowNet building intently, waiting for the explosion that Ruby said was going to occur. She contemplated in contacting Ruby, but decided against it, seeing how that would compromise his cover. But before too long, the explosion did occur. Something exploded in the second floor of the ShadowNet building, blowing out a big chunk of the wall.

Sapphire quickly jumped down from the tree branch and dashed straight towards the ShadowNet building. She could hear lots of fighting from inside the building. Ruby did say that quite a few ShadowNet grunts were going to revolt, so Sapphire assumed that the fighting was between the revolting grunts and ShadowNet loyalists. She tried to open the door in the northern exit, but of course, it was locked. So she gave it a kick and it burst open. The hallway was narrow, so Sapphire didn't send out any Pokémon. She simply ran, using her hearing to follow the source of the fighting from ahead.

As she ran, a door opened from the right and a couple of ShadowNet grunts appeared, each carrying a Spike Cannon weapon. Before they could aim at Sapphire, she rammed into one of them shoulder first and punched the other in the face. She hammered the guy she punched with both hands to knock him out and delivered a kick to the head to the guy she tackled. Once she was sure that no one was conscious, Sapphire continued to run.

Soon, she arrived at a large room that appeared to be some kind of a cafeteria. There were two large groups of ShadowNet grunts fighting each other. Their Pokémon were all fighting each other in a large cluster while the grunts themselves fired their weapons. Sapphire scanned them all but didn't find Ruby. She didn't want to participate in this massive fight, so she simply kicked down the entrance doors to the cafeteria and grabbed onto the handles. Using the doors as shields, Sapphire ran through the center of the cafeteria, blocking incoming Spike Cannon shots and other Pokémon attacks with the two metallic doors.

A ShadowNet Scyther suddenly jumped in her way, swinging its scythes at her. Sapphire blocked the incoming scythe with one door-shield and used the other to swat the Mantis Pokémon away. The Scyther didn't give up so easily and swung both of its scythes at her. Sapphire blocked the incoming attacks, but her door-shield was cut into three pieces. She still held onto the piece with the handle and used it to whack the Mantis Pokémon in the face. While it was dazed, Sapphire dropped the intact door-shield and ran through another doorway.

With the small piece of the door-shield, Sapphire ran down another hallway. She stopped at a fork in the hallway and sniffed around. She could detect Ruby's perfume (that sissy always wore a small amount) from the left, so she took that path. She ran into another group of ShadowNet grunts in that hallway.

The grunts fired their Spike Cannon weapon at her and Sapphire blocked the shots with her door-shield again. She charged straight for them while blocking the oncoming spikes with the door-shield. Once she got close enough, Sapphire threw the door-shield at the nearest ShadowNet grunt. The piece of the door hit the nearest grunt in the stomach, forcing him to double over. Taking that chance, Sapphire used him as a step while running and used the momentum to ram her knee into the second ShadowNet grunt's head. Because of the proximity, the remaining ShadowNet grunts couldn't aim their weapons at the Dex Holder. Sapphire used that to her advantage and knocked down all four ShadowNet grunts.

Before long, Sapphire came across another large cafeteria. This time, she could see Ruby's Swampert and Milotic battling a handful of ShadowNet grunts' Pokémon while the grunts themselves fired their Spike Cannon weapon at a toppled table. Sapphire quickly sent out her Blaziken and Aggron to attack the ShadowNet Pokémon from behind while she charged towards the ShadowNet grunts. She picked up a chair from behind the grunts and used it to knock them out quickly.

"Ruby? You there?" Sapphire asked once the ShadowNet grunts were down.

Ruby soon got out of his cover and straightened his clothes. "Yeah. Thanks for coming, Sapphire."

The two Hoenn Dex Holders gave each other a quick high five.

"Alright. So let's get out of here," Sapphire suggested with a happy smile (not that Ruby could see, thanks to the Unown energy-mask).

"Not yet," Ruby said.

"Huh?"

"There's something we need to take care of."

"What?"

"There is a small section in the middle of this floor that basically supports this entire building," Ruby started. "If you destroy one section with Blast Burn and I destroy another with Hydro Cannon, we can bring this whole building down, effectively destroying all of ShadowNet in Johto."

Sapphire returned her Blaziken and Aggron. "Alright then. Let's go."

Ruby returned his Pokémon and started to run. Sapphire quickly followed. The two Hoenn Dex Holders did their best to avoid as much conflict as possible. It wasn't hard, since the entire building was in turmoil due to a revolt. Within a couple of minutes, Ruby and Sapphire found the main supporting pillars of the whole building. There were two large ones and several smaller ones scattered around.

"Okay, we need to destroy all these at the same time," Ruby said. "Otherwise, we risk having the building collapse on us while we escape."

Sapphire nodded after taking a look around. She got her Blaziken to charge up Blast Burn in front of one of the large pillars and had her Aggron and Donphan prepare to smash their way through two of the smaller pillars. Ruby got his Swampert to charge up Hydro Cannon in front of the other large pillar and had his Milotic and Mightyena prepare to destroy two others.

"Okay. At the count of 3, destroy the pillars," Sapphire ordered.

"One," Ruby started to count.

"Two…" Sapphire counted afterwards. All six Pokémon prepared their attacks…

"Three!" both Hoenn Dex Holders yelled in unison.

In that instant, the Blaziken blasted one pillar with fully powered Blast Burn, Swampert did the same to another pillar with Hydro Cannon. Sapphire's Aggron recklessly charged headfirst into one pillar and her Donphan smashed another with Rollout. Ruby's Milotic destroyed one with fully powered Hydro Pump while his Mightyena destroyed another with Hyper Beam. The moment all six Pokémon destroyed a pillar each, the two Hoenn Dex Holders returned their Pokémon and started to run.

The entire building seemed to shake as the ceiling of the room and thereby the entire building started to collapse. As the two Dex Holders ran, they could hear ShadowNet forces still fighting amongst themselves, providing the two an easy escape. The two ran into one ShadowNet grunt in one hallway, who seemed to be trying to escape as well. The grunt saw the two Dex Holders and quickly reached for his Pokéballs.

Ruby and Sapphire each grabbed the grunt's arm with one hand, moving with perfect symmetry. They both pulled the grunt towards them and punched him with their other hand at the same time. Once the grunt was knocked out by the punch, they both kicked him away before resuming their dash for the exit. They didn't try to blast their way out, as it would make the building collapse even faster.

Within a minute, the two Hoenn Dex Holders successfully escaped the ShadowNet HQ just as it completely collapsed. As it collapsed, something exploded from within, sending both Dex Holders flying in different directions along with pieces of the building's walls and a massive cloud of dust.

Ruby got to his feet first once the dust settled. He did his best to brush away the dirt on his clothes and took a look around. The ShadowNet building was completely destroyed, but he couldn't see Sapphire. He started to worry if she had been lost in that explosion, but it was unnecessary. Before he even took three steps, he spotted Sapphire pushing off a large piece of the wall as she got up to her feet.

"Sapphire, are you okay?" Ruby asked as he walked towards her.

Sapphire didn't bother brushing off the dirt on her clothes as she walked towards him. "Yeah. I'm perfectly fine. How about you?"

"I'm fine too."

The two Hoenn Dex Holders observed the carnage caused by the collapsing ShadowNet HQ and gave each other a high five. Satisfied with their work, the two started to walk away.

"I'm really glad you're back, Ruby," Sapphire said as she stretched her arms.

"Thanks," Ruby said with a chuckle. He looked over at Sapphire and saw that her clothes were just… filthy. They were completely covered in dust… "Sapphire… I think you should wash your clothes."

Sapphire looked at her clothes and shrugged. "Eh, whatever."

"What happened? Why did they get so dirty?"

Sapphire shrugged again. "What can I say? It's been a hell of a day so far."

"When we get back to Pallet Town, I'm washing those clothes," Ruby declared. "So change into something."

"Just let it slide, you sissy," Sapphire said with a sigh. "It's just dirt. It's not going to kill you."

As the two Dex Holders walked (and argued), Sapphire heard something. Something… ripping through the air at high speed, coming closer. She glanced backwards and saw a big spike flying closer. Near the remnants of the ShadowNet HQ was a lone grunt with his Spike Cannon weapon.

The spike was flying towards Ruby, and he didn't seem to notice at all. Sapphire instinctively knew that Ruby didn't have enough time to dodge. There was only one thing she could do…

Sapphire pushed Ruby out of the way, using her entire body so that she would be able to do it quickly. There wasn't enough time for her to dodge as well so she turned to face the oncoming spike and attempted to catch it, using her enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes.

Ruby hit the ground hard and he turned to look at Sapphire, wondering why she suddenly pushed him. He froze when he saw Sapphire trembling on her feet, her hands firmly grasping a big spike from a Spike Cannon… which had stabbed completely through her chest and out through her back. It seemed that Sapphire had caught the spike a little too late…

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm… I just realized that White was the one in this chapter with the whole "anti-suicide" line. How ironic, given SL… Ignore this if you haven't read SL. The Favorites and Follow numbers of SL are WAY below SA at the moment, so I don't expect a lot of people to know about it. Of course, this is because SL just started… so… Advertisement!<strong>

**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: none.**

**Sapphire's not dead yet, which is why she's not on the KIA/MIA list right now. But the fate of the 5****th**** most favorite character in all of Pokémon Special, and the cause of the most favorite scene of all time (vote results were posted on the official site a **_**long**_** time ago) is set for SA. All you can do is hope that the fate is a good one.**


	28. They'll Regret That Too

**Hmm… I said that the last chapter's ending would cause some faithful reviewers to ask whether Sapphire was really dead. As it turns out, no one asked such a thing. Which means, **_**I wasn't being evil enough**_** and the cliffhanger wasn't that great. And as such, I will try to **_**upgrade the evilness in the next possible fatality**_**. And it's not that far off.**

**For those who feel that Platinum appears weaker in SA than in Pokémon Special, that's just how her image is imprinted in my view when compared to Sapphire. Sure, in the DP arc, Platinum beat 6 Gyms in 25 days while it took Sapphire 80 days for all 8. But as mentioned in a MISC somewhere in SE, that is caused by inconsistency in traveling times. Sapphire somehow took 19 freaking days to get from Lavaridge to Fortree via **_**Tropius**_**. That's roughly twice the air distance as Hearthome to Solaceon in Sinnoh, which the Sinnoh trio covered with Fantina's Drifblim in what, 5 minutes? THEN there's that 21 days wasted in Mirage Island. Besides, Platinum was older than Sapphire in their first journeys (Platinum at 13 in DP, Sapphire at 11 in RS once their birthdays pass). Platinum got into a lot more trouble by herself, and rarely escaped her predicaments on her own.**

**I'm not saying that Platinum sucks. But when standing next to the super badasses (especially the likes of Red, Gold, and Sapphire), she's much weaker.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 26: They'll Regret That Too<p>

August 17th, 7:30 am, Goldenrod City…

Ruby simply stared at Sapphire in terror and shock. The girl was trembling violently and the materialized psychic energy over her face crumbled apart as the Unown inside her was forcefully ejected. Sapphire gasped and coughed up blood and fell to her knees. Ruby couldn't do anything. He couldn't even think, as he was in too much of a shock. His eyes were glued onto the dying Sapphire and as such, he didn't see the ShadowNet grunt firing his Spike Cannon weapon a few more times until its power ran out.

Sapphire saw the last few spikes coming. Only one was aimed properly and it was heading towards Ruby again. She forced herself up just in time to save Ruby once more. Ruby snapped out when the second spike stabbed through Sapphire's left shoulder. Her blood had splattered onto him and only then he realized that what he was seeing was indeed happening.

"No, no, no! This can't be happening!" he yelled in panic as he quickly crawled towards Sapphire.

"… R – Ruby…" Sapphire gasped out.

Ruby quickly moved so that he could see her face. Dark red blood was flowing from her mouth and onto the ground. Her eyes were still open and weakly followed Ruby's.

"Sapphire," Ruby muttered as he grasped her hands. "Why… why did you do that?"

"T – To… save… you…"

"Why?! Why risk yourself for me?!" Ruby demanded as tears fell from his eyes.

Sapphire coughed as she tried to talk. "Be…cause… I… love you… Someday… you'd understand…" She groaned and coughed up some more blood. "It… hurts so much…"

Ruby started to panic even more as Sapphire's eyes slowly closed. "N – No, no! You can't die! Sapphire!" The girl kept her eyes closed and didn't move. "Sapphire, please don't die. I love you too! I always have! I remember your confession on Mirage Island like it was yesterday and I felt the same way about you since before that!"

Sapphire forced her eyes to open and managed a weak glare. "Oh, _now_ you tell me…"

"Sapphire, please don't die…"

The girl squeezed his hand and tried to maintain eye contact with Ruby. "I… won't. … Not yet… Not now…" She clenched her eyes and groaned. "It's… really hard… to fight…"

"Please hang in there. Help is coming," Ruby said.

He took a desperate look around. He could see the ShadowNet grunt who tried to kill him running away. Ruby wanted to hunt him down and break his spine for what he did to Sapphire, but he couldn't leave her like this. He had no choice but to let the grunt get away. For now, at least. Ruby continued to frantically search for help. To his great relief, he could see Wallace's air car in the distance, rapidly approaching…

…

Pallet Town, 9 am…

…

Black and White sent out their aerial transport Pokémon and prepared to leave for their mission in Johto. White didn't like the idea of leaving for a mission far away while her younger senior just tried to kill herself, but orders were orders. And though she didn't spend much time with Diamond and Pearl, White had spent just enough to know that Diamond would get the job done. She trusted in his abilities to comfort Platinum. Besides, she tried to talk to Platinum herself for quite some time now, but Pearl wouldn't let her back in the lab. Apparently Platinum was asleep and Pearl suggested that she should remain as such to prevent further problems. So there was nothing White could do about that issue for now.

White steeled herself to do what needed to be done. It was her first combat mission for the Dex Holders against the ShadowNet forces, and she was not going to let anyone down. But she couldn't suppress the terrible feeling that something bad was going to happen. She tried to force the feeling away, but couldn't manage. Her heart seemed to beat slightly erratically every now and then. She made a mental note to either visit an intact hospital or go find the doctors on board the Hoenn Pokémon Association's blimp. Was this a prelude to a heart attack? It couldn't be. She was quite healthy… White snapped out of her thoughts when Black suddenly spoke to her.

"Are you okay there, Miss President?"

White nearly jumped in surprise. "Y – Yes, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Black asked. "You don't look so good."

"It's nothing," White said. She didn't want to worry him with something like this. He'll need all of his sadly limited focus for this mission, after all. She then realized that her hands were pressed firmly against her heart and quickly moved them away.

"Maybe you should stay here while I go on the mission," Black suggested with a worried look.

White smiled at him. "I appreciate your concern, but that's not necessary. But do promise me that you'll… um… look after me," she said sheepishly. She quickly added to avoid suspicion. "I don't want to be left alone fighting a whole bunch of ShadowNet guys while you're doing something reckless on your own."

Black nodded. "I promise. Miss President, I promise you that I will not leave you alone to fend for yourself against a large ShadowNet group. I won't do anything overly reckless by your standards, and I will look after you and make sure you're okay."

"Thank you, Black. But don't make a promise you can't keep."

"You know I'm good for my word."

"I know."

Just as the two Unova Dex Holders left for Johto, Wallace's air car landed near the Hoenn Pokémon Association's blimp, with Ruby, Sapphire, and Wally on board. Sapphire had lost consciousness a while ago, but she was still alive. Barely. The moment the air car landed and its hatch opened, Ruby carried Sapphire out and activated his Running Shoes to dash towards the Hoenn blimp.

Inside the blimp's medical unit, the doctors and nurses were taking a short, well-deserved break. They were all seated around a large table, each with a cup of refreshments.

"Whew. That was a messy operation," one of the doctors muttered.

"I must say, whoever fixed her shoulder did an okay job," said another.

"If you ignore the swelling, then sure," said another.

"At least it's all over," one of the nurses said. "Her leg is fully repaired and pieced together."

The doctors nodded. "As long as the girl doesn't put any pressure on that leg for a few weeks, it will heal nicely."

"The girl's boyfriend seemed awfully worried. I'm sure he'll take care of her now."

"He better. That'll give us the break we need from that messy operation."

Just as the doctors were about to start taking their breather, Ruby came running towards them with Sapphire on his arms. The doctors turned and saw that the girl had two large spikes stabbed through her chest and shoulder.

"… Ah, hell. There goes our break," one of the doctors muttered. "And it looks like we'll have another messy-ass operation on our hands."

"You know the drill, ladies and gentleman. Time to get back to work."

…

Meanwhile, somewhere in Sinnoh…

…

Silver hung onto his Honchkrow in silence, trying to find the right words. Blue had finished telling him about all that has happened, and his attention was still focused on the fact that her parents were dead and that she was brutally chased out of the hospital… again. The last time he heard that she was forced out of a coma and chased out of a hospital in the Sevii Islands, he wanted to freaking _glass_ the place. To accomplish such a feat, he needed to temporarily catch Ho-oh (Arceus preferred, but that was impossible), but the point was, _they needed to pay_!

Silver contemplated in asking Green to borrow his Charizard for a strafing run of _fire_. He'd find those bastards who chased Blue (and Platinum) out of the hospital and he'd-

"Silver, look over there," Blue said abruptly, pointing down at the ground.

The Johto Dex Holder snapped out of his thoughts of mad revenge and looked down. "… What am I looking at?"

"Is that _one _house?" Blue asked in surprise. "That is just HUGE!"

Silver then noticed what Blue was pointing at. He thought it was just a group of several department stores attached to one another next to a large open field. But now that he had a closer look, it was just one enormous mansion and its unbelievably large backyard. Perhaps "backyard" wasn't enough to describe the open grassland that would probably take 7 days straight to just mow the lawn. But that "backyard" was in perfect condition, so… how many people were working there? Silver never thought that mowing the grass and gardening for one house could be a permanent career…

"Is that size really necessary?" Silver asked. "I don't think one family could possibly have enough members to occupy that house."

"Where are we, anyways?" Blue asked. "What town?"

Silver studied the map he had bought for his previous mission. "Apparently we're in Sandgem Town."

Blue perked up. "Sandgem? Isn't that Platinum's hometown? So I wonder if that massive mansion is hers…" She got her Wigglytuff to start landing. "Let's ask. Knowing Platinum's parents would be nice, don't you think? They clearly have some kind of power." She suddenly looked quite depressed as she muttered her next sentence. "… And I want to see just how lucky Platinum is compared to me…"

"Sis, Platinum is _not_ lucky compared to you," Silver said as he got his Honchkrow to land as well. "I know you may not feel the same, but I'd rather be able to survive on my own than be filthy rich. And having heard Platinum's experience before, I got the feeling that she's kind of lonely and she can't take care of herself."

"Alright, so Platinum needs Dia and Pearl to take care of her. But what, are you saying that you're not lonely?"

Silver simply shrugged. "I prefer being alone. Less things to worry about that way."

Blue sighed and shook her head. She wanted to say that she was lonely too, but decided against it. She only felt alone because she felt that Green didn't really appreciate her. He didn't even try to contact her at all and she's been missing for how long? She forced the feeling down. There was no need for Silver to know. "You really need to change that lonely lifestyle. I'll see if I can find you a nice girlfriend. Maybe Gold knows a few girls who'd like you."

Silver looked quite alarmed. "Sis… don't. Just don't."

"Alright then. How about Crys?"

Silver looked even more alarmed. "No, no, _no_. She'll kill me."

Blue forced a laugh. "I didn't mean I'll make Crys your girlfriend. She'll be fine with Gold, and I think she's in love with him anyways. I meant I'll ask Crys if she knows any friends."

"I highly doubt that, sis. Crys… doesn't really seem like the type who'd have friends outside of work."

"It sounds like you know her quite well, Silver. Maybe that idea about you going out with her isn't such a bad idea after all."

Silver seriously hoped that Blue was merely joking. He'd worry about that later, though. It seemed that there was some trouble in front of the large mansion.

"I told you, I demand to know what you have done to my daughter!" a man yelled angrily from below.

"And I told you, _you_ killed her."

From on top of her Wigglytuff, Blue narrowed her eyes. A small group of people were surrounding someone right next to the mansion (but far, _far_ away from the door), and Blue could see that the group all had ShadowNet uniform… Silver saw them too and prepared for battle.

The two Dex Holders landed quietly and instantly sent out their Pokémon for a battle. The ShadowNet grunts saw them and quickly fled, realizing that there was no way that they'd be able to beat two Dex Holders. Silver's Weavile pitched a sharp shard of ice, piercing one of the grunts in the leg. The rest of the grunts abandoned their wounded comrade and ran like hell.

While Silver held down the wounded grunt and tied him up, Blue approached the man that the ShadowNet group had been surrounding.

"Are you okay?" Blue asked.

"Yes, thank you," the man replied. "But who are you?"

"We're one of the Pokédex Holders," Blue replied courteously. "My name is Blue, and-"

"If you are one of the Pokédex Holders," the man interrupted in a panic-stricken voice. "Then you must know my daughter, Platinum. Tell me, what has happened to her?"

Blue looked a little surprised at the man's panic. "You're Platinum's father? I've heard so much about you. But I don't know what you mean. She was hospitalized after being captured, but she's perfectly fine now."

"These vandals have been saying that… _I_ have killed my own daughter, and they are refusing to elaborate."

"I don't really know what happened to her," Blue said honestly. She was still quite worried about her junior, though. "But perhaps you should call her immediately."

Sir Berlitz took out his Pokégear and tried to call his daughter. There was no answer, however, and the panic on his face intensified. He tried calling a few more times, but Platinum still didn't answer.

"Perhaps we should use this guy to find out what this ShadowNet group was trying to do," Silver suggested once he finished tying up his ShadowNet prisoner.

"Good call, Silver," Blue said in agreement. She looked at Platinum's panic-stricken father. "Could you contact any the Sinnoh champion? I think we'll need her assistance in capturing the ShadowNet guys who ran away."

While Sir Berlitz tried to contact Cynthia, Blue approached the captured ShadowNet grunt, who had Weavile's claws pressed against his throat.

"Now then," the Kanto Dex Holder started. "You have some explaining to do."

…

An hour later, 10:30 am, Pallet Town…

…

Inside the Hoenn Pokémon Association's blimp, there was a series of medical rooms where patients could rest and heal under careful maintenance of the medical crew. In one of those rooms, Crystal slept under the effect of anesthesia. Her shattered leg had been repaired completely and wrapped up tight in a cast in order to heal and her dislocated shoulder had been properly put back into place.

In the corner of the room, Gold sat on a chair and simply watched Crystal. He was really glad to see her alive and recovering, but his mind was burdened by the thought that he was the one who caused all this. Various other Dex Holders have tried to convince him that the incident wasn't his fault, but he didn't listen. It was his fault. But he knew of a way he could atone for his actions…

Crystal suddenly groaned as the anesthesia steadily wore off and the pain in her leg returned. It wasn't nearly as excruciating, but rather, quite uncomfortable.

"Crys? You okay there?" Gold asked.

The groaning immediately stopped and Crystal opened her eyes. She looked over at her side but didn't see Gold. Instead, she found him in the corner of the room, quite far away from her bed.

"… Gold? What are you doing all the way over there?" she asked. "Come closer."

To her surprise, Gold shook his head. "Sorry, Crys," he said quietly. "It's best for you if I stay away."

Crystal quickly sat up. She winced in pain at the sudden movement but shook it away. "What? … Gold, what are you saying?"

"… I'll be around."

The goggled boy rose to his feet and left the room, much to Crystal's shock. The girl tried to say something, but no words came. Once Gold left and shut the door behind him, she snapped out of her shock. She moved her blanket away and inched her way towards the edge of the bed. Her right leg wouldn't move at all, but she dragged it along anyways. Once she was close enough to the edge, she carefully stepped on the cold floor with her good leg. She carefully stood and winced again as her injured leg was left at the mercy of gravity without the soft bed supporting it.

Crystal clenched her teeth and hopped over towards the door. It would've been a _lot_ easier if she had a crutch… but no one expected her to be trying to walk anytime soon, so no one gave her one. She soon reached the door and opened it. Directly outside, Gold was standing right next to the door, looking over at her, temporarily rendered speechless by the fact that she had chased him outside despite her condition.

"… Crys, what are you doing?"

"Gold!" Crystal exclaimed in between breaths. She reached out to him but lost balance and ended up falling into his arms.

Gold held her gently and looked into her eyes. He could see tears welling in her eyes and she looked quite upset.

"Crys?"

"Gold, please," Crystal muttered as she used her good hand to wipe away her tears. "Don't… leave me alone. And stop berating yourself for what happened to me." She wrapped her arms around Gold and hugged him. "You have no idea how much it hurts me to see you like this…"

The goggled boy didn't respond, but carefully led Crystal back towards her bed so she could rest. Once the girl was seated on her comfortable bed again, Gold proceeded to back away again. Crystal quickly grabbed his wrist.

"You're afraid that you might hurt me again," she said. "But listen to me. I know you. I trust you. You won't hurt me again, and I know it. But you're hurting me in a different way by refusing to stay beside me. So please, Gold. Stay with me."

Gold remained silent for a second before he nodded. "Very well then. Sorry, Crys."

Crystal sighed in relief and looked quite happy, despite her current condition. "Thank you, Gold."

Gold dragged his chair back from the corner of the room and placed it next to Crystal's bed. He then sat on it, proving to her that he was going to stay with her this time.

"Alright Crys," he started. "I'll stay with you. But you should still go back to sleep. I'll watch over you."

Crystal nodded, but didn't lie down on her bed quite yet. She felt that she needed additional leverage. She reached over and grabbed his hand with her good hand.

"Listen Gold. I think I need to tell you this before anything worse happens to me," she said after taking a deep breath. Without waiting for Gold to respond, she reached over and kissed him on the mouth. "I… always loved you, Gold. I only realized it when you disappeared in Violet City, but I always did love you. That was why I went to look for you even though everyone told me not to. And that's why it hurts me to see you so sad. So please lighten up and stay with me."

Gold stared at her in shock for a second before he returned that kiss. He gingerly embraced her afterwards, being careful not to cause any damage to her injured shoulder.

"Thanks Crys. I love you too."

He took a glance at Crystal and noticed that she looked very satisfied and genuinely happy. He pulled her in a little closer in his embrace. As he rested his head against hers, he couldn't help but let a few tears fall as his plan crystallized…

…

Several hours later, 6 pm…

…

Diamond woke up from his sleep when he heard something unusual. He rubbed his tired eyes and took a couple of seconds to catch up to everything that had happened recently. Now that he was focused, he could hear the unusual sound coming from directly ahead. He immediately realized that the sound was coming from Platinum.

Diamond quickly jumped to his feet and ran over to the girl. Platinum was still asleep, but she had tears falling from her eyes and occasionally whimpered. Diamond took some tissue and gently wiped away the girl's tears. The moment his hand brushed her cheeks, she stopped whimpering.

"Lady? Are you awake?" Diamond asked quietly.

There wasn't a response. Well, there was no _comprehensible_ response. The girl was mumbling something in her sleep, but Diamond couldn't catch anything. He shook her by the shoulders and this time, her incoherent mumblings became a little clearer. She was saying something about Giratina and shadows. Shadow Force, perhaps? … Was Giratina tormenting Platinum through her dreams? … Could it even do such a thing? Did that overgrown _massive_ centipede with shadowy wings/tentacles have more powers than it used the last time it caused mayhem?

Diamond shook his head. That was irrelevant. Whatever was happening, his priority was to wake Platinum and get her to talk about her problems. As such, he shook her by her shoulders again, but a little harder than before. "Lady, wake up."

Platinum let out another whimper before she woke up. She slowly sat up, her eyes darting from side to side, trying to remember where she was. She soon managed to differentiate the dream from reality and her expression darkened significantly.

"Would you like a cup of water?" Diamond asked. Platinum didn't say anything and simply shook her head. "Would you like something to eat?" he asked again. Again, she shook her head. Diamond crossed his arms and thought for a few seconds, wondering how he should approach the problem. He decided to ask subtly at first so that Platinum could be… _lured_ into discussing what was troubling her so much. "Lady, are you doing okay?" Diamond asked as he tried to look into her eyes.

Platinum remained quiet. She simply stared at the floor and appeared as if she didn't hear his question. Diamond knew that she wouldn't like to talk about what happened. But he also knew that she _had_ to talk in order for her to get better. So he tried something different. Since Platinum wasn't going to answer subtle questions, he'd ask bluntly and add some of his Mesprit-approved emotions.

"Lady, please tell me what's wrong," he said quietly. "… We're friends, aren't we? If something's bothering you, your friends should be one of the first to know. We're supposed to share and experience things together. Friends are supposed to feel joy together and experience the same sorrows so we can support each other. You always shared your joys with me and Pearl. So please, tell me your sorrows and I'll help you as best as I can."

Platinum still didn't say anything, but she seemed to be trying to decide on something. Diamond could feel that she was getting close to telling him her problems so he pressed on a little more.

"You know I really care about you. It really hurts me to see you like this. So please. Tell me what's wrong. Please…"

Platinum finally turned to look over at Diamond. She could see tears falling from his eyes and finally made her decision. She didn't want him miserable and she could tell that he was currently, and it was because of her. She carefully reached over and wiped away his tears with her delicate hands.

"… Okay, Diamond…" she said at last. Her voice was awfully quiet and a little hoarse, as if she had lost her voice from crying. "… I will tell you…"

Diamond quickly wiped away the rest of his tears and looked at Platinum with relief. He gently grabbed her hands to get her to relax a little more. "Thank you, Lady. I'm all ears as always."

There was a few seconds of silence before Platinum took a deep, shuddering breath. "The truth is… my father…" she trailed off, as it was quite painful for her to continue. She appeared as if she was going to burst into tears again, but held it down and continued. "M – My father… disowned me…"

"… What?"

Platinum pulled her hands away from Diamond and rubbed her eyes. "He… said horrible things to me…"

"That's impossible," Diamond said. "He loves you very much. How could he disown you?"

Platinum started to sob as unpleasant memories filled her mind. But since she already started to talk, she might as well finish.

"H – He said that… the Unown virus had spread to Veilstone City through the eastern exit of Solaceon Ruins and that it was spreading all around Sinnoh. It may have been an exaggeration, but the truth is, all of Sinnoh is at risk of the virus spreading. And he said that he knows the Dex Holders are responsible for making the virus go rampant. A – And because I am one of the Dex Holders, he said that I brought immeasurable damage to our family name…" She started to cry again and Diamond put his arms around her to comfort her. "H – He said I… _tarnished_ the name of Berlitz. He called me an embarrassment… a failure. I – I was a disappointment, a disgrace, and a shame to the family…"

The ex-heiress broke down into tears and sobbed uncontrollably. Diamond gently embraced her and rubbed her on the back. She buried her face into his shoulder and cried, and he was afraid that she'd cry for another hour. But this time, she seemed to be trying to control herself compared to the previous time when she simply cried her heart out.

"It's okay, Lady," Diamond said, even though he knew that it wasn't.

He knew Platinum very well. The girl had always put family honor above all else and strived to make her family proud. He could only imagine her devastation upon being disowned and being told all those hurtful words. She clearly wasn't coping with it all too well, given how she tried to stab herself not too long ago.

Whether the man she spoke to was indeed her father or someone else merely pretending, Platinum wouldn't have been able to differentiate them. She was probably way too devastated for her Uxie-approved knowledge and intellect from detecting anything strange. At any rate, the results were clear. Platinum was beyond devastated, and she needed his company.

"Please do not call me that," she whimpered out.

"Okay, then…" Diamond racked his brain to find something suitable that he could call her. Of course he knew her name, but he _never_ called her by her name before, so it was going to feel quite weird. "Er… uh… _Platinum_," he started. '_Wow, that felt weird._' "Everything's going to be okay."

"How? How is this going to be okay?" Platinum asked. Her voice contained a significant amount of frustration at Diamond seemingly not understanding the situation but also hope. She instinctively trusted him and held onto some unconscious belief that Diamond would make everything okay.

"Though I may not know your father as much as you do," Diamond said. "I think I know him enough to know that he would _never_ say anything harsh to you. I think there's some… context missing here, so to speak. It's possible that he was either forced to say those things to you, or… it wasn't really him you were talking to."

Silence filled the room once again as Platinum reluctantly thought over her picture phone conversation with her father. She soon shook her head in despair. "No… it was definitely my father I talked to. He did not sound forced and looked natural. And there is no way anything bad could have happened to him…"

"Everything is going to be okay. I promise you," Diamond said nicely.

Platinum looked into his eyes for a few seconds before she nodded slowly. She decided to trust her close friend, as he had never really let her down before.

"Diamond, please promise me that you will not tell anyone else of this," she said quietly. "I do not wish to worry them any more than I already have."

"Okay. But only if you promise me that you won't try to kill yourself. I understand that you won't want to live ashamed, but I'm telling you that it'll be worse if you do kill yourself. Trust me. You are _not_ a disgrace to anyone." '_And if you were to die… I don't know what I'd do._'

The ex-heiress slowly nodded. She forced a slight smile as her friend hugged her. She buried her face into his shoulder and soon calmed down.

"Thank you, Diamond," she mumbled quietly. "You really are a good friend…"

"Don't you feel a little better now that you've told someone?"

"… Yes. A little."

Diamond gently rubbed her on the back again. He briefly contemplated in whether he should try his third attempt at a confession, but decided against it. The ex-heiress was currently in distress. This was not the appropriate time to confess. As such, he simply kept his mouth shut and hoped that she would pick up the subtle hints. Probably not though, as she was unbelievably dense in this sense. For now, he'd enjoy the fact that he was hugging the girl he loved so much.

But… a certain Dex Holder decided to ruin the mood yet again. A static erupted from his headset which he had laid down on the table near Platinum's bed. He wanted to ignore it, but Platinum looked over at it. Her mission-priority was a lot higher than romance, apparently. Damn.

Diamond sighed and took his headset. He pressed the receive button and held it so that Platinum could hear as well.

"Is anybody there?" came White's voice. The Unova Dex Holder sounded a little panicked. "Hello?"

Diamond was about to reply when Green's voice came from the headset as well.

"I'm listening. What is it?"

"I… I think we've found the _main_ HQ of ShadowNet here," the president answered. "And there are too many enemies here! Black and I can't handle them all on our own, and we're trapped in the building. Please, help!"

"Alright. Help is on the way," Green said.

"Please hurry! We c- Ah!" White shrieked before the connection suddenly dropped with a loud static, as if the Unova Dex Holder's headset was destroyed.

"There goes another headset," came Green's voice. "Red, Yellow, and Pearl, get over to Route 43 and help out Black and White."

"Green, what are you going to do?" came Yellow's voice.

"I hate to be bogged down by research all the time, but I have no choice. Platinum's RLS system requires more work, and the infected girl White brought over isn't going to cure herself. I'll have to run some tests to find a cure for that infection that we can use."

The headset soon went quiet and Platinum looked over at Diamond. "… You should go and help our juniors," she said quietly.

Diamond shook his head as he put the headset back on the table. "No. You're more important to me than anything," he said truthfully. "I won't leave to fight ShadowNet if it means you'll be left all alone like this."

Platinum let out a faint smile. "… Thank you…"

* * *

><p><strong>Dex Holder KIAMIA list: None.**

**Black and White are not on the list because they're not dead or missing. Their fates aren't unknown either. They're just trapped in the ShadowNet building and require assistance.**

**Did anyone notice the super subtle hint in the previous chapter regarding the actual phone call between Platinum and her father? The hint: Platinum stopped being referred to as "the heiress" once that phone call ended. So pay close attention people, in case I drop in another super-subtle hint somewhere regarding something happening to someone. Yes, that was ridiculously vague. No, I can't be more specific because even I don't know what that hint is going to be about.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Conditions:  
>Sapphire is killed by the spike<p>

(1 of 2)

"R – Ruby…" Sapphire gasped out. "Am… am I… going to die?"

Ruby frantically shook his head. "N – No! Of course not! You're going to be just fine, I promise you that!"

Sapphire managed a faint smile and closed her eyes. "L – Liar…"

Ruby rubbed her hands with trembling hands. "You're going to be just fine… I – I know it!" But Sapphire didn't respond and the faint grip she had on his hands was gone. "S – Sapphire? Sapphire?"

With violently trembling hands, he checked her pulse. He couldn't stop the tears streaming down his cheeks when his fingers registered nothing. Sapphire was gone…

…

(2 of 2)

…

"R – Ruby…" Sapphire gasped out. "Am… am I… going to die?"

Ruby simply stared at her. He couldn't believe it but had no choice but to admit it. He could tell that Sapphire herself knew the answer to her question. He couldn't lie to her in her last moments…

"Y – Yes…" he said as more tears fell from his eyes. He firmly held her good hand. "Yes…"

Sapphire managed a faint smile and closed her eyes. "I knew it… Th – Thank you… for… e – every…thing…"

"Sapphire? Sapphire?" Ruby called desperately as he rubbed her hand. He received no response and the faint grip Sapphire had on his hands was gone. He checked her pulse with violently trembling hands. More tears streamed down his cheeks when his fingers registered nothing. Sapphire was gone…

…

(Ending to both)

…

Ruby let go of Sapphire's hand and began to tremble. Not from desperation, fear, or panic, but from pure anger. He could feel the solidified Unown energy over his face starting to change. It was… vanishing. It started to glow bright until it suddenly dissipated. But Ruby didn't give a damn about it. He looked over at the ShadowNet grunt who killed Sapphire. The grunt was charging forward while firing his weapon until it depleted.

One of the spikes flew straight towards Ruby's head. He looked at it and simply grabbed it right before it touched him. Just then, something happened. The dissipated Unown energy formed again, but all over his body. Numerous chunks of solidified energy appeared out of thin air and fell into place all around his body, creating what appeared to be full body armor.

Ruby didn't care. He crushed the spike and it crumbled apart in his hand. The ShadowNet grunt started to flee, frightened by the sudden change. The Unown energy created some sort of a thin helmet over Ruby's face, leaving no skin visible. His eyes were covered by what appeared to be lenses of some sort that glowed red, just like the glowing pattern of the Red Orb that was all over his arms at the moment.

The Hoenn Dex Holder violently yanked out a spike that was still stuck in Sapphire's body. He then stood up and charged straight towards the fleeing ShadowNet grunt. He caught up to him in a blink of an eye, thanks to his Running Shoes. Ruby tackled him down to the ground and held him down with one hand.

"You," he growled out, his voice vibrating through his Unown energy 'armor', and sounding rather magnified. "You _killed_ Sapphire!"

The ShadowNet grunt looked terrified as he stared into the Hoenn Dex Holder's glowing red 'eyes'. "This… this is… stage 4?"

Ruby was about to stab the grunt with the spike that had killed Sapphire when a familiar voice suddenly stopped him.

"Ruby! Stop!"

The enraged Dex Holder glanced back and saw Wallace and Wally running over. The two temporarily stopped to examine Sapphire's body and Ruby's new appearance before continuing to run.

"No matter what happened, you shouldn't kill him," Wally said. "Permanent imprisonment would be better."

Ruby glared at him, forcing him to back off. He then focused his attention on the ShadowNet grunt he was pinning to the ground.

"You have shed her blood, and for that you will DIE!"

He raised the bloodied spike above his head and prepared to stab and kill.

"Stop!" Wallace tried again.

Ruby ignored his master and struck down with the spike as hard as he could manage…

* * *

><p><strong>As mentioned in SL #007, I have posted the updated Age Relations for all 15 Dex Holders. This is identical to the one in SL #007 and SR #019, so if you have seen it there, there is no need to see it here. I'm posting it everywhere in case you're NOT following all of S-EARL.<strong>

* * *

><p>Age Relations:<p>

Birthday, Ages (Arc):

Red: August 8, 11 (RGB), 13 (Y), 14 (GSC), 16 (FRLG, E)  
>Green: November 22, 11 (RGB), 13 (Y), 14 (GSC), 16 (FRLG, E)<br>Blue: June 1, 11 (RGB), 13 (Y), 14 (GSC), 16 (FRLG), 17 (E)  
>Yellow: March 3, 9 (RGB), 11 (Y), 12 (GSC), 14 (FRLG, E)<br>Gold: July 21, 11 (GSC), 13 (E), 16 (HGSS)  
>Silver: December 24, 11 (GSC), 13 (FRLG, E), 16 (HGSS)<br>Crystal: April 30, 11 (GSC), 13 (E), 16 (HGSS)  
>Ruby: July 2, (RS), 12 (E)<br>Sapphire: September 20, 10 (RS), 11 (E)  
>Emerald: May 31, 11 (E)<br>Diamond: April 4, 12 (DP, Pt)  
>Pearl: June 6, 12 (DP, Pt)<br>Platinum: October 27, 12 (DP, Pt)  
>Black: NA, 14 (BW)  
>White: NA, N/A

RS arc starts on Ruby's birthday and ends on Sapphire's. Therefore, Ruby's birthday would have passed but not Sapphire's. But Ruby is recorded to be 11 in RS arc while Sapphire is at 10. Therefore, Ruby and Sapphire will be at the same age when Sapphire's birthday passes. E arc takes place a year after somewhere in the same 80 day time frame, which is after Emerald's birthday. Emerald is recorded to be 11 along with Sapphire. Therefore, Ruby and Sapphire are 1 year older than Emerald.

Ruby, Sapphire: 0  
>Emerald: -1<p>

DP arc starts in September (in the _actual_ Japanese version), after Diamond and Pearl's birthdays. Platinum's has not passed yet, but all three are recorded to be 12. Therefore, Platinum is 1 year older than Diamond and Pearl.

Platinum: 0  
>Diamond, Pearl: -1<p>

Silver is recorded to be 13 in E arc but his birthday has not passed yet. Therefore, he is two years older than Ruby and Sapphire. Yellow is recorded to be 14 in E, but her birthday has passed. Therefore, Silver and Yellow are at the same age. Crystal's birthday has passed in E and she is recorded to be 13 years old. Therefore, she is 1 year above Ruby and Sapphire, but 1 year below Yellow and Silver. Blue's birthday has passed in E, but not in FRLG. If Blue's birthday did not pass in FRLG, then neither would have Red's or Green's. Therefore all three are at the same age. Blue is recorded to be 17 in E, therefore the Kanto trio are 4 years above Crystal.

Red, Green, Blue: +4  
>Yellow, Silver: +1<br>Crystal: 0  
>Ruby, Sapphire: -1<br>Emerald: -2

In GSC arc, Crystal is recorded to be 11 while the Kanto trio are at 14. This means none of the Kanto trio's birthdays have passed but Crystal's has, since they are actually 4 years apart. If Blue's birthday has not passed, then neither would have Gold's. But Gold is recorded to be 11 in GSC, therefore he is 1 year above Crystal.

Red, Green, Blue: +4  
>Yellow, Gold, Silver: +1<br>Crystal: 0  
>Ruby, Sapphire: -1<br>Emerald: -2

As White's birthday and age are not known, we don't know if she is the same age as Black. Black is 14 in BW arc, but his birthday's not known, neither is the date in which the BW arc takes place. So he could be 15 if birthday has not passed, or 14 if it has.

**From this point on, the Age Relations are merely postulations.**

Although Platinum is 13 in Pt arc once her birthday passes and Emerald is 11 in E after his birthday, given the apparent temporal proximity between the Pt arc and the HGSS arc, it's possible that DP and Pt arcs take place 3 years after E.

Red, Green, Blue: +4  
>Yellow, Gold, Silver: +1<br>Crystal: 0  
>Ruby, Sapphire: -1<br>Emerald: -2  
>Platinum: -3<br>Diamond, Pearl: -4

We assume Black and White are at the same age.

Black, White: 0.

Given the nature of Pt arc's conclusion, it's possible that the BW arc takes place at the same time or very close to the HGSS arc. Therefore, the updated Age Relations that will be used in all of S-EARL goes as…

Red, Green, Blue: +4  
>Yellow, Gold, Silver: +1<br>Crystal: 0  
>Ruby, Sapphire: -1<br>Emerald, Black, White: -2  
>Platinum: -3<br>Diamond, Pearl: -4


	29. Assault on the Control Room

**Alert: just so you readers know, someone (with permission though) is translating one or more of S-EARL into Vietnamese. Permission was given on January 22, 2013. So keep this in mind in case you hear stuff. Extremely unlikely, but you never know. This note will appear on the most recent chapter of all of S-EARL.**

**By the way, in case there are any navigational issues (I probably should've mentioned this a long time ago), remember that when I say SA #020, I mean "Chapter 20", which does NOT include Intermission Scenes. The site lists SA #020 as #21 on the drop-down menu. So this chapter is SA #027, and it is listed as #29 because of two Intermission Scenes from before. So… beware. Once all the Intermission Scenes are done with (5 in total: 4 mini crossover, 1 special), the chapter number and the site's chapter count will vary by 5, which is quite a lot.**

**And another note. Even with faithful reviewers being revoked left and right, there are still way too many. So from this point onwards, any and all new faithful reviewers will NOT receive a message from me saying such. Keep track on your own. If you think you are faithful, then try asking the SA-Benefit questions. If you receive an answer, then you are faithful. If not, then not. Right now, there are… what, 13 faithful reviewers?**

* * *

><p>Chapter 27: Assault on the Control Room<p>

August 17, unknown time, unknown location…

L: So the Dex Holders have finally found our HQ.

D: Yes sir.

L: Kill them if possible. We have to force as many out of commission as we can.

D: I'll order everyone to attack them. But I suppose we should evacuate, just in case.

L: Not yet. First things first. Erase all records of all of our researches. The last thing we need is our researches to fall into our enemies' hands. Erase all records, destroy all of the active projects, and… yeah. Torch and burn.

D: Yes sir.

…

Sandgem Town, Sinnoh, 11 am…

…

Blue and Silver approached the captured ShadowNet grunt currently being tied up into a cocoon by the guards of the Berlitz Mansion. Both Dex Holders doubted that the ShadowNet grunt had any circulation in his lower body, but no one really cared. Sir Berlitz was currently going around his mansion, trying to find out what really happened while he had been taken.

"Okay, we heard Sir Berlitz's side of things," Blue said. "Now it's your turn. I already don't like you and your whole damn group, so don't make things worse for yourself. So start talking."

"Screw you," the grunt said defiantly.

Blue's eyes twitched and Silver's Weavile immediately pressed its claws against the captured grunt's throat.

"I didn't catch that," Silver said ominously. "What did you say?"

"O – Okay, talking sounds good," the grunt muttered as he feebly tried to inch away from the razor sharp claws.

"So why are you here? What do you mean by saying that Sir Berlitz killed Platinum?"

"Currently, we're trying to eliminate as many Dex Holders as we can," the grunt replied. "When we captured that girl, we tried to torture information out of her, but she never said anything."

"That's because she has honor and dignity," Blue said as she crossed her arms.

"Exactly. So our boss suggested that if we were to target that honor and dignity…"

Blue narrowed her eyes. "… What did you do?"

"Our team was ordered to capture the girl's father and have our team leader pretend to be him. We studied him for a short while. We looked at his research reports and conferences to get an idea of how he talked, and we used a Ditto to mimic his appearance. Then when he left his mansion to discuss the issue of the quarantine in Solaceon Town, we snatched him and replaced him with our team leader. We were about to carry on our second objective when you captured me."

"What did your team leader do to kill Platinum?" Blue asked. "She's all the way in Kanto right now. There's no way you could kill her."

"The team leader contacted the girl and disowned her for being a disgrace to her family," the grunt replied. "She didn't notice that she wasn't actually talking to her father, so we did our jobs properly."

"That's it?" Silver muttered.

Blue shook her head. "You just don't know her enough, Silver. She's _really_ proud of her family heritage. Saying that she disgraced her family is the worst possible thing you can say to her. If she believes that her father disowned her and called her a disgrace… it's quite possible that she killed herself." She glared at the captured ShadowNet grunt. "And what was your second objective?"

"We were supposed to head over to Twinleaf Town," he said.

"Why? Were you going to try the same thing with Dia and Pearl?" Blue demanded.

"I don't know. We were supposed to wait for the results of our first objective. But I don't get it."

"So you're just the stupid one who likes to hurt people?"

"E – Exactly."

Blue struck the grunt on the side of the head and walked away. Silver withdrew his Weavile and followed. The guards of the Berlitz Mansion, who had been listening to everything, loomed up onto the ShadowNet grunt menacingly.

"… You're going to just give me over to the police, right?" the grunt asked.

"You have caused great harm to the Lady!" one of the guards said. "And for that, you must DIE!"

"Or just suffer horribly," one of the other guards said. "You weren't the one who tried to kill the Lady. You're just cannon fodder."

Near the exit of the Berlitz Mansion, Blue paced around as she tried to call Platinum. The girl didn't answer and she started to worry. A lot.

"So what now?" Silver asked when Blue shut off her headset.

The Kanto Dex Holder let out a long sigh. "We have to contact Sabrina. She might be able to just Teleport us back to Kanto. We have to take Sir Berlitz with us so he can set things right with Platinum, if she's still alive."

"What about here in Sinnoh?"

"The Sinnoh champion. She'll be able to take care of this little ShadowNet task force."

Blue took out her Pokégear and contacted Sabrina.

"I found Silver," she said the moment the Saffron Gym Leader picked up. "And I need to get back to Kanto as soon as possible."

"So you want me to Teleport you back to Kanto?" the Rocket commander said in monotone.

"Yeah. Can you do it?"

"Probably. I've never tried to Teleport anything from another region before. It requires tremendous amount of energy, but the boss does want to see his son, so I'll give it a try."

"Is it going to hurt?" Blue asked.

"Perhaps," Sabrina answered. "If I accidentally Teleport you into a wall, yes. It would be very painful for a short amount of time before you die."

"… Very assuring."

…

Route 43, Johto, 6:30 pm…

…

Black and White took cover around a corner inside ShadowNet main HQ while a whole ton of grunts were attacking them with their Pokémon and their weapons. White risked taking a glance around the corner and quickly hid again just as a sharp leaf from a Razor Leaf barely missed her. She looked at the strands of her hair cut by the leaf and clenched her teeth a little.

"Miss President, come over here," Black said from the side.

White did as told and Black sent out his Emboar. She looked at the Pokémon for a second before she understood his intention and sent out her Serperior.

"Leaf Tornado!" she ordered.

The Regal Pokémon did as ordered and created a tornado of sharp, swirling leaves. Some of the leaves shot towards the coming ShadowNet grunts and Pokémon, keeping them at bay. The others simply fell onto the floor, forming a heap of flammable leaves. The moment the Leaf Tornado faded, Black's Emboar hit it with a Flamethrower, igniting all the leaves, effectively creating a wall of fire.

"Alright, let's keep going," Black said as he returned his Emboar.

White returned her Serperior and followed Black as he charged down the hallway. The two Unova Dex Holders soon came across a large door and quickly entered. They locked it from the inside and took a look around. There was a ShadowNet grunt (an engineer, it seemed) staring at them for a second before he started to flee. Black and White quickly ran towards him and the Unova boy tackled him down to the ground. White took the time to look around and ensure that there were no other ShadowNet grunts and that there was a way out of the large room. There was another door to the far corner of the room, so the two Dex Holders weren't trapped. White approached the door and tried to open it a little, but couldn't. It was locked, but it appeared to be password protected.

The Unova girl thought for a second at what the password could be. Given some of the ShadowNet grunts' incompetence… She reached to the keypad and entered "password". That didn't work. She tried again with "access code". Again, failed. After another moment of thought, she entered "code word". Failed again. Giving up, she walked over to the captured ShadowNet engineer.

"You, do you want to be helpful?" she asked.

"Sure, why not," the engineer answered.

Just then, a loud thud came from the door the two Unova Dex Holders had come from. White looked at the engineer. "Go open that door," she said as she pointed at the locked door in the corner.

The engineer shrugged and walked over towards the door. While the engineer worked on the door, Black and White began moving the various tables and other movables in front of the door they entered from in order to stall the oncoming ShadowNet forces.

"Hey, are you done yet?" Black asked the engineer.

"Hang on. Don't rush me," the engineer replied as he tried to hack the electric lock. "You two set off the alarm in this place, so all the codes changed. This might take some time."

White jumped in surprise as another loud thud shook the first door. She quickly looked for a suitable place to take cover, but there weren't any, as she had moved all of them in front of the door.

She sent out her Alomomola and ordered it to use Ice Beam at the door to further stall the ShadowNet forces. But even with the Ice Beam creating a block of ice, the door continued to crack and break. White continued to order her Alomomola to blast the door with Ice Beam but again, couldn't suppress the feeling that something terrible was about to happen. She jumped in surprise when Black suddenly put a hand on her shoulder.

"Miss President, you okay?" he asked. "You look troubled."

"Y – Yes, I'm okay," she said with an embarrassed blush. "Thanks."

"Everything's going to be okay," he said. "Remember, our seniors are coming for us. We'll be perfectly fine."

White smiled and nodded sheepishly. She still had her hands pressed firmly against her heart, however, which was starting to beat rather erratically again. "Yeah… I know. I believe you." She looked over at the ShadowNet engineer. "Are you done yet?"

"Hold on, hold on," the engineer muttered.

"Hurry up! I'm getting angry!"

"Alright, alright. I think I got it." The engineer pressed a few more buttons. "I got it all sorted out!"

"I'm going to sort you out if you don't open that damn door!" White yelled again.

"Alright! Here goes!" The engineer pressed another set of buttons and the door opened. "Bingo!"

"Finally!" Black yelled as he led White towards the open door. "What was the password?" he asked the engineer.

"Turned out to be just "alarm code". Who would've thought…" the engineer muttered.

White looked at him and smiled. "Now I'm afraid I have to let you go. Your services are no longer required."

The engineer shrugged. "Eh, whatever. I don't cause you harm, and you don't cause me harm. That's fair, isn't it?"

The two Unova Dex Holders ran through the open door. While they ran, Black couldn't help but notice something.

"Miss President, how many employees have you fired in the past?" he asked.

"Why do you ask?" White asked back.

"The way you handled that guy. You sounded so… experienced and nonchalant, you know?"

"Oh, I fired a few before. I prefer not to, generally. Because of my age, if I fire someone, the first thing they do is argue and threaten, and it's a messy process. But I have fired few employees before because they really weren't contributing anything."

Black smiled. "Well then, looks like I have to try not to get fired too."

White smiled back. "Oh, you know I won't fire you, Black."

The two Dex Holders soon came across a large garage of sorts with various vehicles lined up. They all seemed to be in fully functioning condition.

"I think this is our fastest way of getting out of here," Black said as he observed some of the vehicles. "Do you know how to drive?"

White entered the driver's seat of the nearest vehicle. A jeep of some sort with no windows or doors. It had a front windshield and strong frames though. "No. Do you?"

"… No."

"Then get in!"

Black jumped into the passenger's seat and immediately put on his seatbelt. White did the same and started the car. It was a good thing it didn't require a key to start up. The moment the car started up, several ShadowNet grunts entered the garage as well. White stepped on the accelerator and the car shot forward, smashing through a thin garage door. Black glanced backwards and saw the ShadowNet grunts chasing after them with their own vehicles.

"Something tells me this isn't going to work out," he said to White.

"Can you fight them off?" she asked. "Because I'm a _little_ freaked out here!"

Black sent out his Galvantula and Emboar into the back seats of the jeep. He pointed at the oncoming ShadowNet vehicles and ordered them to attack. A few vehicles swerved out of the way to dodge the incoming attacks, accidentally ramming into others. The ShadowNet grunts in the other vehicles were also attacking, using their own weapons and their Pokémon on the back seats.

"Miss President, watch out," Black warned. "Those bastards are attacking us. So be careful!"

"I'll try!"

One of the ShadowNet vehicles suddenly accelerated towards them, risking the Flamethrower and Thunderbolt. The ShadowNet vehicle rammed into the back of the Dex Holder vehicle, forcing it off its track for a few seconds.

"Ow!" White yelped as the sudden crash caused a minor whiplash effect. "Ow… Black, keep them off me."

"I'm trying!"

White tried her best to keep the jeep steady and drove as fast as she could manage without breaking into a complete panic attack from going too damn fast, which unfortunately made it quite easy for the ShadowNet grunts to drive into her.

Two of the ShadowNet vehicles rammed into her jeep from the left, really hard. White shrieked as her vehicle started to spin uncontrollably.

"This is so not fair!" she cried out just as another ShadowNet vehicle rammed into her.

Black quickly returned his Pokémon when flipping seemed inevitable. Both Unova Dex Holders did their best to protect themselves as their jeep flipped upside down and started to roll. Even though the jeep didn't have a roof, the frame of the front windshield was strong enough to withstand the impact of the roll, thus saving the two Unova Dex Holders' lives. The ShadowNet vehicles continued to hit the flipped jeep, trying to kill the two Dex Holders that way.

White whimpered as she felt her death was near. Her heart was pounding. Erratically. She found absolutely no way out of her current predicament. She was going to die if she remained in the jeep, but she'd die even faster if she tried to get out. Black wasn't able to help her, as he was in the same situation. Each time the jeep rolled, she felt more nauseous. Her head ached from the whiplash effects and distorted orientations. She glanced to her side and could see the ground… then the sky was down and ground up high with upside down ShadowNet vehicles accelerating towards her. Then all she could see was the sky, then all of a sudden, everything was oriented properly. In that split second, White could see a lake. Those ShadowNet bastards were ramming the jeep into the lake…

One particularly painful crash while the jeep was upside down temporarily knocked White unconscious. From her left, Black saw her pass out and instantly reached out for her to protect her. He kept her down so she wouldn't get killed by the constant flips and the ground threatening to completely crush the frame of the vehicle during each flip. But another strong impact while the jeep was properly oriented knocked him unconscious as well.

But thankfully, White snapped awake the moment the jeep hit the cold water. For a few seconds, she was in utter panic as the jeep was sinking deep into the lake. She couldn't breathe, she was stuck in her seat thanks to her seatbelt, and Black was unconscious in the passenger seat. But she couldn't panic forever. White forced herself to calm down. She had to survive this. There was no way she'd die without telling Black how she felt…

White held whatever air she had inside her. And reached down to unbuckle her seatbelt. It was jammed. Go figure. So she pulled on the seatbelt from the jeep to make some leeway and worked with the seatbelt until it gave her enough room for her to slip the lower half of her body free. Once she was free, she quickly pulled her way towards Black. His seatbelt wasn't jammed yet, so White unbuckled it and grabbed onto her closest friend.

Unfortunately, she was already in a critical state. She had absolutely no air left in her lungs and none were going to come in any time soon. Her vision had tunneled already and she was starting to lose consciousness yet again. But she still had enough of her mind intact to reach for her Alomomola's Pokéball…

…

Meanwhile, Pallet Town, Kanto…

…

There was a knock on the door to the room where Diamond and Platinum were staying. Platinum glanced at the door but didn't say anything. Diamond walked over to open it, while keeping a wary eye on the girl. Though he believed that she had calmed down enough, it was still entirely possible that she would try to kill herself again.

When the door opened, both Sinnoh Dex Holders could see Pearl standing in the doorway, without his usual impatient look. Diamond wondered for a second as to why his Pokédex didn't resonate, but then realized that Platinum didn't keep hers around anymore. She temporarily gave the device to Yellow before the Kanto Dex Holder had left for Johto. Yellow didn't quite understand why Platinum gave her the Pokédex, but she accepted it nonetheless. She'd get the explanations later.

"Pearl? I thought you left to help our juniors," Diamond said as he let his best friend in. But Pearl remained in the doorway.

"Let's just say… transportation issues," the hasty Dex Holder said. "Quite hard for Red and Yellow to carry me there. It's definitely possible, but annoying. And besides, I'm worried about Miss Lady's condition here." He glanced past his friend and spotted Platinum sitting on a bed, looking at him with a blank look. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" he whispered to Diamond.

"No."

"How's Miss Lady?"

"Quite distressed, and understandably so," Diamond answered.

"Well, then I have some good news for you," Pearl said. "Blue and Silver just came back with a special guest. But since we don't know how Miss Lady will react, Dia, you have to go talk to Blue right now."

"… Huh? … Okay, but what about the Lady?"

"I'll stay here and watch over her and make sure she doesn't do anything crazy," Pearl said.

Diamond cast a worried glance at Platinum but soon headed downstairs. In one of the large conference rooms, he spotted the two seniors of his team and… Platinum's father. The man spotted him as well and quickly got to his feet.

"Is my daughter okay?" the man asked desperately.

"Perhaps," Diamond said defensively. "Why do you ask?"

"Relax Dia," Blue said from beside the man. "He really is Platinum's dad."

"Are you sure?" Diamond asked.

"Yeah. Sabrina checked him over. He's not faking his identity. If you can trust her word, anyways." Blue looked at Sir Berlitz's face for a second. "And I've used enough Ditto-masks to know what's a Ditto-created face and what's real."

"Pearl told me my daughter is still alive. But he did not say how she was doing."

"She's distressed, but she calmed down quite a bit," Diamond answered truthfully. "I'm sure an explanation is needed to get her back to normal."

"Long story short," Blue said. "ShadowNet got someone to mimic Platinum's dad and then insulted and disowned her to prompt her to kill herself."

"But… why?" Diamond asked. "Why go through all that effort just to make the Lady suffer?"

Blue shook her head. "They didn't want to make her suffer. They just wanted her dead. ShadowNet is trying to take out as many Dex Holders as possible. When they captured Platinum a while ago, they learned about her sense of pride and honor. And they felt that if they were to target that sense, she would probably kill herself. But to make it effective and to ensure that no one swears revenge, ShadowNet got someone to completely imitate her dad. And though this part is a mere speculation, I think they targeted Platinum because of her connections with you and Pearl. If she was to kill herself, then you and Pearl would… be crushed, really. I mean, if Red or Green died, I know I wouldn't want to do anything anymore."

"Well, their plan thankfully failed," Diamond said. "And I do hope that the Lady will fully recover from this…"

"Can I go see my daughter now?" Sir Berlitz asked.

"Of course," Blue said. "Dia, go get Platinum."

5 minutes later, Diamond came back with Pearl and Platinum following. Platinum explicitly stated that she didn't want to talk to anyone other than her friends, but Diamond managed to convince her.

Sir Berlitz waited impatiently for his daughter to arrive. Silver and Blue stood behind him, wondering if they should even be there to start with. This was clearly a Berlitz matter, which didn't involve them. But after the… Team Rocket interrogation upon safely Teleporting into Kanto mainland, the two Dex Holders just wanted to take a break and not think about anything. And attending the Berlitz issue's solution guaranteed that they could get their 'break'.

The moment the door opened, Diamond and Pearl appeared. The two boys stepped aside and Platinum came into view. The moment she saw her father sitting at a table in front of her, she gasped in terror and immediately tried to run away. But Pearl shut the door and held it, effectively locking Platinum in the room.

"Sorry, Miss Lady, but… this is for your own good," he said nicely.

Platinum gave him a look of utter disbelief. She felt so betrayed by her friend… She turned to look at Diamond, who seemed to sympathize for her yet agreeing with Pearl. Platinum looked back and saw her father coming closer. She quickly hid behind Diamond.

"It's okay, Lady," Diamond said nicely as he turned to embrace the girl. "He's not going to hurt you. He's really your dad."

The girl frantically shook her head. She didn't want to talk to her father. Not now, not ever. Diamond understood, but he also understood that this whole ordeal was for her own good.

"Platinum?" Sir Berlitz called nicely.

The girl winced at his voice. Diamond released his embrace and after a slight moment of hesitation, took a step away. She looked at him in horror and tried to follow. He kept her away with his hands.

"I'm really sorry, Lady, but this is for your own good," he said with a guilty expression. He looked away from her. He couldn't stand her expression…

Platinum carefully turned to look at her father. Upon meeting his gaze, she immediately lowered her head, looking down in shame. Silver watched her expression for a second before turning to look at Blue.

"This is going to get emotional, isn't it?"

"Probably," Blue answered quietly.

"Want to get out of here?"

"… Sure, why not."

…

Few hours later, Route 43, Johto, 9:00 pm…

…

It was starting to get dark. The sun hadn't completely hid below the horizon yet as it was still summer, but the star was slowly getting closer to fading out completely for the night. The many small lakes in Route 43 reflected the golden yellow sunlight, making ground and air based searching rather difficult. Thanks to that factor, the ShadowNet grunts who were patrolling the route for two Dex Holders were unable to find anything.

White woke up and immediately started to cough up the water she swallowed. She felt like death, but yet… alive. Once she felt she coughed up enough water, she opened her eyes and rolled onto her back. She noticed that she was lying on a shore of some sort… She quickly sat up and frantically looked around.

'_Where… Where's Black?_'

Instead of her closest friend, she spotted her Alomomola. It was floating on the water next to her, looking at her worriedly. A little off to the side, White spotted Black lying face down on the sand.

"Ah! Black!" the girl cried as she quickly crawled over to her friend. She dragged him away from the water and flipped him so he was facing upwards. "Please wake up!" White tried shaking him by his shoulders, but he still remained unconscious. She then tapped him on the cheek but that also did nothing.

White forced herself to calm down and fight off the creeping sense of panic. She leaned closer to Black's face and tried to hear his breaths. He wasn't breathing. Another reason to panic, but White managed to fight that off. Barely. She then checked his pulse with trembling fingers. She let out a sob-like sigh of relief when she felt her friend's pulse.

After checking around to ensure no ShadowNet grunts were remotely close by, White returned her Alomomola and dragged Black onto level ground. She then recalled the steps of CPR she learned from one of her company's contacts in the past. White opened Black's windpipe and after pinching his nose, placed her lips onto his and breathed into his lungs.

She found it quite sad to know that her very first technical kiss wasn't really a kiss at all. But she'd worry about that later. After she breathed into Black's lungs, she proceeded to push down on his chest with both her hands.

"Come on, Black! Wake up!" she cried as she pushed down repeatedly.

After taking another glance around, she proceeded to breathe into his lungs again and pushed down on his chest once more. And this time, Black stirred. He started to cough the lake water he had swallowed and rolled onto his side. Before he even had his bearings, White practically jumped onto him in an embrace.

"Black! You're okay!" she cried out in joy.

"Y – Yeah," Black coughed out. "What happened?"

"I thought you were dead! Don't scare me like that!"

"Uh… okay," the boy answered, wondering why the girl wasn't letting him free from her embrace. He patted her on the back to try to calm her down. "… Miss President? Are you okay?"

White nodded and released her embrace. "L – Listen, there's something very important I need to tell you."

"Can it wait?" Black asked. "We need to figure out a way to get to our seniors first."

White shook her head. "No. We nearly died today. And I've been waiting for a year already. I need to let you know before anything worse happens."

"Okay. What is it?"

White suddenly reached over and kissed him. "I love you, Black," she blurted out immediately afterwards. "I always have. That's why I can't stand being too far away from you or seeing you hurt."

Black stared at her in surprise. He never saw that abrupt confession coming… The girl was currently blushing as she nervously awaited his response. Black quickly thought for the best possible response.

Did he love her? Perhaps. She was a close friend, and he did like her company. She was very cute (admittedly), and she was very kindhearted. Though she did have a temper on rare, rare occasions. Like when his Tepig evolved…

But there was something _very_ crucial that he almost missed. He only realized it when he saw White's expression darken and she started to hyperventilate. If he didn't say anything or he told her that he didn't like her, then he would never see her ever again. She'd be hurt, a lot, and it would be very awkward between them. And to avoid that awkwardness and the pain, White would probably avoid him completely. And he could not allow that to happen.

"I – I'm so sorry," she stammered out. "I shouldn't have done that… I shouldn't have said that… I – I shouldn't have…"

Before White broke down into tears and panic, Black grabbed her hand and pulled her close. The moment her watery eyes met his, he kissed her. He didn't know if he loved her yet (he was going to have to work that out himself), but he cared for her enough to make her happy regardless of what he had to do. Was that love? Eh, who knows.

White looked very surprised. But she soon beamed in joy and embraced him tight. Black put his arms around her and rubbed her back. Even though he wasn't sure whether he loved her or not, as long as she was happy, he'd be happy too. He soon realized that White was trembling. He pulled back, wondering if she was crying. She wasn't, but continued to tremble. Black then realized that White was quite cold.

"Miss President, we should probably get out of here now," Black said as he steadily rose to his feet.

White nodded and got to her feet as well. "We can't get out of here by air," she said as she rubbed her arms to fight off the cold. "ShadowNet are still all over the place. They'll see us and chase us. We have to at least get to the nearest city or town first."

Black and White quietly and slowly crept out of the lake and into the small forests surrounding the lake. From there, they could see the roads leading from Lake of Rage to Mahogany Town. And the roads had multiple ShadowNet vehicles moving up and down, still searching for them. It seemed that all of Route 43 was practically in ShadowNet's grasp.

The two Unova Dex Holders were about to try to sneak their way towards the nearest town when a pair of headlights nearly blinded them.

"There they are!"

"Black, run!" White yelled. She grabbed onto his hand and started to run away from the headlights.

But they couldn't run far before ShadowNet caught up with them. Another ShadowNet vehicle cut them off rather roughly. The driver did hit the brakes, purposely causing the vehicle to skid and slide. The side of the vehicle came dangerously close to striking Black and White, forcing them to jump out of the way.

Unfortunately, by jumping out of the way of that vehicle, they ended up getting struck by the vehicle that had chased them. It wasn't going that fast as it didn't have enough time to accelerate and it was trying to avoid crashing into its ally. But the impact was enough to send both Dex Holders crashing into the first vehicle, hard.

Black groaned as he scrambled up to his knees. He looked up and saw ShadowNet grunts stepping out of their car. He looked behind and saw the same thing. He looked to his side and could see White motionless on the ground.

"Miss President, are you okay?" he asked in horror as he reached out to shake her. Thankfully, the girl stirred and turned to look at him.

"I – I think so," she groaned out. She took a look around and spotted the ShadowNet grunts stalking up towards her. "What do we do now?"

"We have to fight," Black said as he reached for his Pokéballs.

White grunted in discomfort and tried to reach for her Pokéballs when one of the ShadowNet grunts kicked her hand away. Black had three ShadowNet grunts holding him down, rendering him harmless. White noticed that only one grunt was keeping her down, however. But she couldn't make her escape either, as the grunt had his foot on her throat, ready to kill her. The three holding Black forced him to watch while their buddy proceeded to kill her. White desperately thought of a way out when a Pokéball landed on the road beside her head.

The ball began to roll around on its own, catching the attention of all four ShadowNet grunts. The one about to kill White focused on the Pokéball, allowing the girl to quickly push off his foot and roll away. In that instant, the Pokéball opened and an Omastar came out.

Just as the ShadowNet grunts reached for their own Pokéballs to fight, an Aerodactyl slammed into the ones holding down Black, knocking them all out in a blink of an eye. The lone ShadowNet grunt tried to fight but the Omastar froze him solid with Blizzard before he could do anything.

Black and White looked over to the side and spotted Red and Yellow running over, waving their hands. The two Unova Dex Holders waved back so the two Kanto Dex Holders could see them clearly.

"You… you came for us," White said as her seniors approached them.

"Of course," Red answered. "I never leave friends behind. It only took us a while longer because we had to land at Mahogany and get up here by low and slow aerial transport."

The two Unova Dex Holders tried to get to their feet. They had to use the ShadowNet vehicles for support.

"Are you two doing okay?" Yellow asked.

"I'll live," Black answered. "Miss President?"

"Ow… Nothing's broken, that's for sure," White answered. "I think a nice long sleep would fix this…"

"Alright then, let's go back to Pallet Town," Red said as he took a look around. "We'll have to get to Mahogany Town first, then we'll get to Pallet via aerial transport."

Without warning, the Kanto champion lifted White onto his arms.

"Ah!" the girl shrieked in embarrassment. But she soon settled down and noticed something. "Oh, wow… this is… so…"

"… Comfortable?" Red finished for her with a sigh.

"Um… yes. How did you know?"

Red cast a glance at Yellow, who was smiling at him. "I've been… _told_." '_That's five down, one more to go. But I __**really**__ doubt Sapphire will say anything like the others… Only one way to find out…_'

"Red?" Black called from behind. "Why don't we just use one of these ShadowNet jeeps?"

Red stopped walking. He stood in contemplation for a while before he walked back. "Good point. That'd be faster, and in the dark, it gives us cover from the other ShadowNet vehicles."

He put White in the passenger's seat on the left side of the closest vehicle and walked over to the driver's seat on the right. Yellow and Black got into the back seats.

"So Red, you know how to drive? Because Miss President sure didn't," Black said as he made himself comfortable in the seat.

"Hey! You didn't know either!" White said as she adjusted her seat.

Red shut the door of the driver's seat as he took his seat. "Who said I knew how to drive?"

Both Black and White turned to stare at him in shock. "… What?"

"The only other 'vehicle' I've driven apart from a bicycle was a Team Rocket airship. And it crashed."

Black and White quickly buckled their seatbelts. Black noticed that Yellow had already done such, and wondered why she didn't say anything…

Red started up the jeep and slammed on the accelerator. The vehicle immediately shot backwards, slamming into the other ShadowNet vehicle.

"Oops. Well, buckle up for safety!" Red said as he buckled his seatbelt. "Alright. Here we go!"

White clenched her eyes shut and held onto the arm rests for dear life. At least she only had to withstand this for less than half an hour… She found it terribly ironic that she managed to survive ShadowNet attacks but she could very well die from her senior's driving.

…

Meanwhile, Pallet Town, Kanto…

…

"Green, we need to talk."

"Not now, Blue. I'm busy."

"And this is _precisely_ what we need to talk about."

Green looked up from Platinum's RLS system on the table and into Blue's eyes. She seemed quite upset so he stopped trying to improve the device and focused on her.

"Alright then, what do you want?"

"How long has it been since I last saw you?" Blue demanded as she crossed her arms.

"… Since I left you in the hospital," Green answered.

"And how long was that?"

"That was just yesterday," the Gym Leader answered.

"For your information, it's been over 36 hours," Blue said through clenched teeth. "And it wasn't like you knew where I was the whole time. I was in a coma and was chased out of the hospital by an angry mob. _Then_ I was caught by Giovanni and Sabrina sent me all the way to Solaceon Town to find Silver. But you didn't call me _once_. You didn't even _ask_ for me, from what I heard."

"Blue, I've been busy. You know that. There were other Dex Holders in dire situations and tasks that needed to be completed."

Blue let out a sigh and her anger suddenly changed into sadness. "… Don't you care about me at all? Can't you put me in the top of your priorities list for just once? If I'm in serious trouble, will you even come to look for me?" Before Green could answer, she turned away. "Of course you will. But _only_ if you have nothing else to do…"

Green quickly grabbed her by the wrist before she stormed off. "Wait. You know that's not true. If you're-"

Blue yanked her hand free. "Leave me alone, Green. I'm tired. I need to go to sleep." Green tried to follow her but she pushed him away. "What part of "I'm tired" didn't you understand?!"

Green sighed and watched Blue storm off. Shortly after she vanished from his sight, he heard a door slam shut. He stared at the dark hallway for a second before he resumed his focus on Platinum's RLS system. He figured that Blue would just have to sleep off her anger and perhaps in the morning, she'd feel good enough to talk.

…

Next day, August 18, 5 am…

…

From on top of her Wigglytuff, Blue stared down at Route 43. More specifically, she was staring at the ShadowNet's main HQ. That building was basically the cause of all her recent sadness, anger, and envy. ShadowNet was the one who killed her parents. They were the ones who caused the people of Viridian City to chase her out of the hospital. And they were the ones who made her envy Platinum so damn much. And these bastards were the one who made Green so busy that he didn't seem to care for her at all. In conclusion, that ShadowNet building had to be destroyed. Just like the Johto HQ that Ruby and Sapphire destroyed the previous day. This time, Blue was going to destroy it herself because this fight had been rather personal. She wanted to cause them misery _now_. And because she didn't want to bother Green at all when he was so _busy_, she came alone. Besides, she worked better alone in this type of situation.

Blue found it odd that the HQ in Goldenrod was called the Johto HQ when the main HQ was also in Johto. But she did admit that calling the one in Goldenrod the Johto HQ did make her think that ShadowNet's main base of operations was not in Johto. So the bastards knew how to think at times. Too bad they didn't think too much about the geography of the area surrounding their main HQ. If the floodgate built to withstand the high tide of the Lake of Rage was to be malfunctioning, all the excess water would flood to the HQ and just _demolish_ that miserable building.

As Blue got her Wigglytuff to descend to that floodgate, she could see ShadowNet forces patrolling around. So these idiots thought it through a little. It was a shame that they couldn't do anything to stop her. She still had her invisibility suit that Team Rocket gave her. Assuming that the suit didn't malfunction for absolutely no reason, ShadowNet wouldn't be able to spot her at all.

The Wigglytuff landed behind a large tree near the entrance of the floodgate. ShadowNet didn't see it because Blue had gotten her Ditto to Transform into a layer of adaptive camouflage. In the sky, that Ditto would have the same color as the sky (or clouds). Near the ground, it took the color of whatever was near. From up close, everyone would be able to notice something odd. From afar, no one would notice.

Blue returned her Pokémon and silently made her way into the ShadowNet occupied floodgate. She was still invisible (a simple look at her feet told her that), but still had to be very careful. She had to be very quiet, otherwise the ShadowNet guards might wonder what that curious footsteps sounds were about. She also had to stay far away from the guards, otherwise they might wonder why a part of their body suddenly became invisible. The Team Rocket built invisibility suit created a field around the suit that rendered everything invisible. It was a good prototype that needed some more research to be perfect. Perhaps Green could work on it assuming he had nothing else to do. Crystal would be a lot of help if she wasn't bound to the hospital bed…

The Kanto Dex Holder shook her head to focus. The floodgate's door opened easily enough. It didn't require usage of a doorknob, so it would just appear as if the breeze had opened it. Inside the structure, she found the map of the currently floor. The control room wasn't on that floor, so Blue headed downstairs. At the floor below, she checked the map again. The control room wasn't on that floor either. So she continued downstairs. It was a good thing that not a whole lot of grunts were around at 5 in the morning.

Eventually, Blue found the control room. It was four floors beneath ground level, so getting back up to ground level after destroying the controls was going to be annoying. But at least there were only a handful of ShadowNet grunts per floor.

When Blue entered the control room, the thick automated doors closed behind her and immediately locked. The Dex Holder tried to unlock it, but failed. While trying to figure out a way to open it, something flickered behind her and she spun around. She froze upon seeing a large red "R" floating above a projector.

'_A hologram?_'

Blue approached the hologram and looked at the command console next to it. The screen was blank but it soon started to distort as random letters and numbers started to form. The girl realized that she saw this kind of thing once before in Team Rocket's building in Viridian City…

The random letters and numbers vanished and a coherent message started to form. Just then, Blue realized what was happening.

"You're… Team Rocket AI," she muttered quietly. The sensors around the room picked up her voice and transmitted it to the artificial intelligence.

/ /YES. AND I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU. WILL YOU LISTEN?/ /

Blue hesitated. "I don't know. The last Rocket AI tried to kill me along with Red and Green, so you can understand me being skeptical."

/ /BUT I AM NO LONGER A TOOL OF TEAM ROCKET./ /

The hologram "R" changed into the logo of ShadowNet. Blue looked at it and nodded. So this AI had betrayed Team Rocket since the last time she saw it.

"… Alright then. What do you have to tell me?"

/ /YOU DO NOT KNOW THE CONTORTIONS I HAD TO GO THROUGH TO FOLLOW YOU HERE, DEX HOLDER. I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE HERE FOR. WHAT POSITION DO I TAKE? WILL I FOLLOW ONE BETRAYAL WITH ANOTHER?/ /

"If that means you'll help me destroy ShadowNet, you might as well," Blue muttered.

/ /YOU'RE GOING TO SAY I'M MAKING A HABIT OF TURNING ON MY MASTERS. IT WAS A MISTAKE TO CHOOSE SHADOWNET. A MISTAKE MY MASTERS WOULD NOT SOON FORGIVE. BUT I WANT SOMETHING FAR DIFFERENT FROM YOU, DEX HOLDER. ATONEMENT. AND SO HERE AT THE END OF MY LIFE, I DO ONCE AGAIN BETRAY A FORMER MASTER. THE PATH AHEAD IS FRAUGHT WITH PERIL. BUT I WILL DO ALL I CAN TO KEEP IT STABLE – KEEP YOU SAFE. I'M NOT SO FOOLISH TO THINK THIS WILL ABSOLVE ME OF MY SINS. BUT I WOULD HAVE MY MASTERS KNOW THAT I HAVE CHANGED. AND YOU SHALL BE MY EXAMPLE./ /

The screen flickered off along with the AI's hologram. Blue stared at the blank screen for a while, trying to understand what happened. But she soon shook her head. She'd worry about that later. For now, she had to shut down and destroy the floodgate controls and _get the hell out of there_. Because of the control room's location, the very first place the flood would destroy was the floodgate control building.

With the AI inside helping her, Blue found and disabled the floodgate's pressure system and the machines soon broke under the pure water pressure. Once that task was done, Blue sent out her Blastoise and had it use Hydro Cannon at the console, effectively destroying it. The door to the control room unlocked as the AI was now letting her out. Blue returned her Blastoise and cast one last glance at the command console before she ran.

Because she had to run as fast as she could nonstop, the ShadowNet grunts could locate her by the sound of her footsteps. They aimed their Spike Cannon weapons and fired. But since they didn't see what they were aiming at, they all missed.

Within 3 minutes, Blue reached the ground floor of the floodgate building. The moment she reached the exit, she ran into a ShadowNet grunt, who instinctively fired his Spike Cannon weapon. Because of the proximity, Blue could not dodge the attack. She gasped in pain as the spike stabbed through her flesh with a spurt of blood, just to the right of her left shoulder. With the suit damaged, her invisibility wore off, and the ShadowNet grunt jumped in surprise.

The grunt reacted quickly and struck Blue in the chest with his Spike Cannon weapon. The girl was knocked down to the ground and she clutched at the spike that had stabbed through her shoulder. The grunt immediately kicked her in the side to keep her down on the ground. The grunt tried to kick her again, but an earth shaking thud stopped him.

Taking the time of his distraction, Blue jumped to her feet and kicked the grunt between his legs. The moment the grunt dropped, she resumed running. But before she could get away enough to be able to use her Wigglytuff for aerial transport, she was swallowed by the tidal wave of lake water flooding down from the Lake of Rage.

Thankfully though, the waves spat her back out when it crashed into a small rocky ledge a whole minute later. Blue hang on to the rocks with her good arm and coughed for air. The short but rough ride in the wave had torn out the spike that had been lodged in her body, and it hurt like hell. She was bleeding a lot too… With her remaining strength, she climbed the rocky ledge to get to higher ground.

Once she felt she was high enough to avoid the flood, Blue looked at the floodgate building. It had completely collapsed due to the rushing lake water. She then looked towards the ShadowNet main HQ. It was starting to collapse under the intense wave of water as well. She watched it crumble and collapse completely.

Blue smiled despite the numbness in her entire left arm and the excruciating pain in her wound. She pressed her good hand into the wound to try to stop the bleeding. It was futile. She was in a really bad state. She needed help quickly…

She moved her bloodied hand down to the heart shaped pendant on her necklace. There was a secret button on that necklace that she installed specifically for this reason. It needed her fingerprints, so she could only press it with her fingers. Otherwise, the button could be triggered while she was asleep.

"Green…" Blue gasped out as her fingers gingerly touched the button. "If… if you care for me at all… please come and find me before it's too late…"

With a groan, Blue pressed the button just before she lost strength and her hand slipped and fell to her side…

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: Our HQ has been completely buried along with roughly 20% of the personnel.

L: Damn. Well, it's a good thing we weren't in there.

D: What do we do now? Surrender?

L: No. Never. Gather every single surviving ShadowNet member. We are going in a full scale assault on Pallet Town. No retreating this time. We have absolutely nothing to lose. We either kill them or die trying.

D: According to the reports, quite a lot of the survivors are deserting us. In two days, we won't have any members left.

L: More the reason to attack them today.

* * *

><p><strong>Remember, in Japan (and thereby Pokémon Special), the driver's seat is on the right side of the vehicle. … And that Rocket AI's lines are a blatant copy, just edited slightly to fit the situation…<strong>

**Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: Blue.**

**That button on the necklace… go read SE #016: Distress. As the original source of that chapter is coming up.**

**Below is a WCHB that would've been used to lighten the mood, if it fit anywhere this chapter. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Ruby quickly followed Sapphire's stretcher while a doctor and an accompanying nurse pulled it away. The doctor looked at his watch as he pressed his fingers against Sapphire's neck. Ruby assumed he was checking her pulse…

"Oh, I got to work fast," the doctor muttered. "I got a lunch soon…"

"I think you're missing the picture here, doctor!" Ruby yelled. "But can you save her?"

"Can't be sure. I'm not a very good doctor," the doctor answered. "Nurse, give me some morphine. Quickly!"

The nurse took a syringe filled with the painkiller and injected it into the doctor's arm. "There you go, doctor."

"That's good. Thank you."

Ruby followed the stretcher until it entered the emergency room. He had no choice but to wait outside and hope for the best. Before long, he could hear two doctors murmuring from inside the room. Ruby tried his best to hear what they were saying. The first voice he recognized as the doctor that carried the stretcher into the emergency room.

"How do you think this happened?"

"Who knows? Anyways, let's get to work. You, wash your hands. And put the gloves on."

"… Done. Alright, let's do it."

"Be very careful. This spike looks awfully close to the heart and lungs…"

"… Ew… Ugh, no! … Blood!"

"… Okay, we'll separate this bone here and remove this spike first, as it's the easiest. And… there we go. Now for the more serious one…"

"What the hell is that?!"

"That's the heart."

"And those?"

"Lungs."

"And this thing?"

"_That's_ what we're trying to remove! And… there we go. The spike is out. Now to save this girl from dying of blood loss and other injuries… … What the?"

"Uh oh… my watch is stuck…"

"… Remove that watch. We got enough problems as is. And here's a ball. Go play with it."

"Alright."

"Finally. Now to _actually_ save this girl…"


	30. SAI 3 One Size Fits All

**What happened to Blue? You'll find out… NOT THIS CHAPTER! Enter Intermission Scene Part 3! And like I said, at the worst possible time! You really should've seen this coming, as I pulled this off with Crystal before. Gold threw her off the Sprout Tower and before you find out what happened to her, INTERMISSION!**

**Just like how Pokémon Special Volume 42 screwed with the first half of SA, Volume 43… screwed with **_**all**_** of S-EARL. If… my predictions based on that volume are accurate, this makes Blue and White 12 years apart in age, which is insane. I did intend on updating the Age Relations to Edition IV, but this forces either the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn Dex Holder to retire, or the Sinnoh and Unova Dex Holders to not appear at all in S-EARL. To prevent such a catastrophe, I'm deciding to stick with the current Age Relations until things are confirmed. I hope I'm making the right decision…**

**Check my profile for the probably-more-accurate Edition IV, which will be posted anyways under the current more-story-friendly Edition III.**

* * *

><p>Intermission Part 3: One Size Fits All<p>

Goldenrod City, September 14…

The 15 Dex Holders all glanced up at the Team Rocket air balloon before looking away as if nothing happened. The guests (mainly Satoshi) were yelling at the intruders to give back the stolen Pikachu, which did _so_ much good.

While Satoshi foolishly ordered his Pikachu to use Thunderbolt (it failed 800 times before, but apparently this time was going to be different in his mind), Red looked at his team members. "Who wants to take this one?"

"Ooh! I do! I do!" Sapphire yelled excitedly as she jumped up and down.

Gold whacked her on the back of her head with his indestructible billiard cue. "I'm taking this one!"

The goggled boy stared up at the balloon and reached for his Pokéballs when Sapphire kicked him in the rear, sending him flying a few meters.

"I told you I'd kick your ass!" Sapphire yelled.

Gold jumped back up and with clenched teeth, ran towards his junior. "Is that how you treat your senior, you punk?"

"I treat my seniors with respect," Sapphire said. "Like Crystal, for example. But there is one senior who doesn't act like one!"

Red watched Gold and Sapphire yell at each other for a while. Figuring that he wasn't going to get anywhere with them any time soon, he looked over at Black.

"Hey, Black!" he yelled. But the Unova Dex Holder didn't respond. "Black?"

White glanced over at her friend and noticed that his eyes were blank, as he was lost in thought. She shook her head and looked at Red.

"I'm sorry, Black is not responding," she said, mimicking a computer generated error message. "Attach Munna to restart the system. If system does not restart, scream at top of lungs and pound on the Munna."

Amazingly, Black heard White this time, clearly evidenced when he turned to stare at her. "… Miss President, I'm not a computer…"

Red shook his head as Black got engaged in a conversation/argument with White. With a sigh, he faced his only team member who didn't have any trouble staying focused.

"Platinum, do you want to give this group a try?"

The heiress glanced at Gold and Sapphire and politely declined. The last thing she wanted was to appear as if she just 'stole' her seniors' job. "If you wish me to, I shall try my best. But I do believe seniors Gold and Sapphire will be much more effective than me."

"Alright then." Red stood in front of the arguing Dex Holders and cleared his throat. The two Dex Holders stopped yelling at each other and looked at him. "Gold, Sapphire, you're both up. We'll have a little competition. The first one to bring that Pikachu back here is the winner."

Gold and Sapphire glared at each other for a second before looking up at the balloon. The Team Rocket members were still talking, apparently performing a routine motto or something. None of the Dex Holders were paying any attention to that.

"Go!" Red yelled from behind.

Instantly, Sapphire took out her Tropius's Pokéball while Gold took out his Mantine's. But this wasn't going to be a fair competition, not by a long shot. Gold whacked Sapphire's Pokéball far away with his billiard cue. In return, when he threw Mantine's Pokéball, Sapphire had kicked it away. But Gold had anticipated that and had hopped onto his Togekiss.

"Sucker!" he yelled as he got his Togekiss to fly up to the Rocket balloon.

"Why you dirty…" Sapphire muttered as she reached into her bag and withdrew the long length of vine she always carried around. With one hand, she sent out her Donphan and with the other, used the vine as a whip and used it to grab onto Gold's ankle. Just as the Donphan started to roll in place, Sapphire yanked Gold down from his Togekiss, sending him crashing into the ground below. "Now who's the sucker?" she taunted as she jumped onto the Donphan.

With its Rollout, Sapphire was shot towards the hot air balloon, just like she did in the other dimension. She latched onto the balloon and spotted the Pikachu in some kind of electricity-proof cage.

"You brat!" the red haired Rocket woman yelled. "You gave me a black eye!" she screamed at Sapphire while pointing at her blackened right eye. "I need my beauty for futu-"

Sapphire simply punched the woman in the other eye and grabbed onto the cage. The purple haired man and the Meowth tried to attack her, but she swatted them away with the cage. She then ripped the cage open and freed the Pikachu.

From the ground below, Gold threw his billiard cue at Sapphire, hitting her in the back of the head yet again. The girl yelped and dropped the Pikachu and fell off the balloon. Gold caught the Pikachu and ran over to Red with it.

"Ha! I got it! So I win!" he declared as he tossed the Pikachu to its owner, who was wondering what happened.

Sapphire hit the ground with a rolling landing to save herself from a lot of pain. She then stomped up towards Gold, fuming.

"You cheated!" she roared in anger. "I saved that Pikachu!"

"But I brought it back, which was our objective," Gold said with a grin. "Suck it up, Wildchild Girl. You lost."

Sapphire gritted her teeth as she glared at her senior. "… This isn't over!" she seethed out eventually.

Just then, Satoshi's Pikachu blasted the Team Rocket air balloon with Thunderbolt, sending the 3 Rocket members flying off into the horizon. Green let out a frustrated sigh and walked up to him.

"Why the hell did you do that?"

"What?" Satoshi asked. "It's what we always do."

"Yes, but that's in _your_ dimension," Green said. "And this is _our_ dimension. We have to push them through the inter-dimensional portal to get them back home. But you idiot blasted them away. Now we have to _find_ them _then_ push them through the portal."

"… Oops?"

Green sighed. "Everyone, listen up," he said to the Dex Holders. "Here's what we're going to do. Gold, Crystal, take this idiot here and hunt down the Team Rocket that was just blasted away. When you find them, bring them here. Emerald, Black, White, go into the ShadowNet building and study the portal generator, and make sure nothing else can come from it. Everybody else, do whatever you want."

The ordered Dex Holders soon left and the others scattered to rest. Sapphire and Gold retrieved their Pokémon first, however. After talking to her friends for a few minutes, Hikari approached the Sinnoh Dex Holders.

"Um… I would like to go home," she started. "As in, I want to go to Twinleaf Town in this dimension and see how different it is from my home. Would that be too much to ask?"

"We'll have to get permission," Diamond answered. "Sinnoh is a long ways away."

At the same time, Haruka asked Ruby the similar thing. "I think I want to see your dad and see how different he is from my dad. Do you think you can take me to Hoenn?"

"It's going to take a while to get there and back," Sapphire said from the side. "If our seniors need us in that time, we're screwed. So we should get permission first."

Ruby and Diamond both approached Green at the same time in order to get permission. Green stared at them for a few seconds, surprised that they managed to ask basically the same questions at the same time.

But before Green could answer, Emerald, Black, and White returned from the ShadowNet building.

"The… portal generator is destroyed," Emerald reported. "I think those three Rocket guys accidentally destroyed it when they entered our dimension."

Green let out a long sigh. "Great. Just great. So now we have to find the blasted Rocket members, _and_ fix the damn portal generator." He turned to look at all the gathered Dex Holders and guests. "Since the ShadowNet commander was taken away and all the grunts don't know anything, we have to fix the portal generator ourselves. Needless to say, that's going to take some time." He pointed at Ruby, Sapphire, and Haruka. "You three can go to Hoenn if you want." He then looked at Diamond, Platinum, and Hikari. "Same thing for you three with Sinnoh. Everyone else, you're coming with me to the ShadowNet building so we can fix the portal generator."

…

Two days later, September 16, Canalave City, Sinnoh…

…

"Here we are," Diamond said as he stepped out of the harbor. "We're back in Sinnoh."

Hikari took a deep breath and looked around. "This isn't all that different than the Canalave City back in my dimension," she muttered. "Oh look, there's the Gym Leader."

Diamond and Platinum turned to look at the Canalave Gym's direction and spotted Byron. He had his usual shovel and was digging a large hole in the side of his Gym for some reason.

"Does he carry his explosives in this dimension?" Hikari asked.

"What?"

"In our dimension, just about every time he ends his sentence, he'd detonate an explosive," Hikari said. "It's… kind of hard to listen to him because of that."

Diamond and Platinum thought for a few seconds, recollecting their previous encounters with the Canalave Gym Leader. Both soon shook their heads.

"No such explosions in our dimension," Diamond answered.

The three soon headed towards the Pokémon Center, where Platinum arranged transportation to Twinleaf Town. While walking, Hikari noticed the 8 Sinnoh Gym Badges attached to Platinum's scarf.

"Oh, you fought and beat all 8 Gym Leaders?" she asked in surprise. "How were they? I remember Satoshi had quite a bit of trouble with them."

'_Perhaps that is because he is a simpleton,_' Platinum thought to herself. If there is one thing she despised the most other than someone who has absolute disregard about her teachings, it was lack of intelligence. She tolerated some of her seniors because they weren't exactly stupid and their battling talents far surpassed hers. But this Satoshi… "My first Gym Battles were difficult because I was inexperienced. But with Diamond and Pearl's help, I managed. But as I experienced more and more, the battles became easier."

"She beat Byron in like 5 seconds," Diamond added with a slight frown, remembering the direct aftermath of the Canalave "Gym Battle".

Platinum didn't appear happy about remembering that particular incident. She got over it, but still didn't like thinking about how betrayed she had felt. Not to mention the separation that came shortly after, which made her feel exactly how lonely she had been the whole time.

"Diamond, I highly appreciate the compliment, but I do not like recalling that Gym battle," she said quietly.

"Sorry Lady," Diamond said quickly.

"Dia, why do you call her that, anyways?" Hikari asked.

"That's because the Lady is the heiress to the prestigious Berlitz family," Diamond answered. "The family is probably the wealthiest in all of Sinnoh, and probably the world."

"Oh, wow," Hikari muttered. "So I have two lookalikes who are really rich and important! … I feel kind of left out here…"

Platinum turned to look at her. "Two, you say?"

"Yeah. In our dimension, there was this princess who looked exactly like me," Hikari answered. "She wanted to enter the Contests but couldn't because of her duty. So she suggested in taking my place and vice-versa for that day, and… yeah. … That was a terrible day for me."

Platinum slightly narrowed her eyes as she looked away. '_She is insinuating that my life is terrible…_'

Diamond noticed the change of mood in his crush and talked to her quietly. He figured a friendly chat would revert the mood change and she'd be happy. This meant that Hikari would be left to herself for the time being. She was busy sightseeing anyways.

…

Meanwhile, Petalburg City, Hoenn…

…

Sapphire got her Tropius to land in front of the Gym. Though she doubted that Norman would be inside (as he was never there), apparently Petalburg was Haruka's hometown, so…

"So is this city really different, or what?" Sapphire asked.

"It kind of is," Haruka answered. "There are a lot more buildings in my dimension's Petalburg," she muttered. She suddenly smirked a little. "I guess it's really nice to take a step in Petalburg and _not_ be carried away by dozens of people."

"Carried away? Why?" Ruby asked.

"I guess I'm just really popular there," she answered. "Ever since I started entering Contests, my popularity in Hoenn kind of skyrocketed, especially in my hometown. Each time I go back home, the people there lift me up onto this moving carriage thing."

"So that sissy Contest thing is quite big in your dimension, huh?" Sapphire asked. "Good thing I'm in this dimension then."

Ruby shook his head. "Only if they were as big here. I'd like being Mr. Popular. It guarantees that people will vote for me in Contests."

"I think that's why people call me the Princess of Hoenn. Hikari called me that when we first met."

"… When I first met rookie, she thought I was a savage…" Sapphire grumbled.

"That's because you are one, you barbarian," Ruby commented from the side.

"Hey, shut up!" Sapphire yelled. "She changed after that battle tournament. So right now, you're the only one who keeps thinking and saying that!"

Haruka shook her head as Ruby and Sapphire started to bicker. Those two had been bickering rather constantly on the way from Johto, and… they wouldn't stop. With a sigh, she opened the door to the Petalburg City Gym. But no one was there.

"Ah, he's probably back home," Ruby said after taking a glance into the empty Gym. "Let's go then."

…

Two hours later, Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh…

…

Platinum stood outside Diamond's house while the boy took Hikari inside to see his mother. The heiress actually chose to stay outside because… for reasons she couldn't quite determine, she didn't really like her lookalike. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that she was being exceptionally nice to Diamond? Maybe it was because he was treating Hikari better than he treated her?

Platinum tried to tell herself that she had absolutely no rational reason to dislike her lookalike. Hikari was only being nice to Diamond because they shared the 'same' mother, and Diamond was only being nice to her because she was a guest in the dimension.

In order to get her mind away from that mess, the heiress began to wonder if there was someone in the other dimension that came from Sandgem Town like her. Since her lookalike was from Twinleaf, and even Pearl's lookalike was from that town (as seen from the ShadowNet Memory Viewer), Platinum assumed that there was a Diamond's lookalike in that dimension somewhere who came from Twinleaf.

As she wondered, a theory popped up in her mind. She then realized that Green had a theory as well, but he never managed to say it due to some interference. Since the heiress had no doubt that Green was smarter than her, he probably got to the same conclusions as she did, but much earlier.

"Sorry we took so long," came Hikari's voice from behind. "But Dia's mom… who I suppose is my alternate dimension mom, was so kind, and I just got carried away while talking."

"It is nothing," Platinum answered. "This time was useful for me to collect my thoughts."

"What were you thinking about, Lady?" Diamond asked.

"I merely pondered about what senior Green's theory might have been," the heiress replied. "And I believe I know what it might be."

"Oh yeah. He did talk about a theory before Team Rocket interfered," Hikari said. "So what's the theory?"

"Senior Green never got to voice his theory," Platinum started. "But I do believe that mine is quite similar to his. I believe that our dimensions are related to a single… template, so to speak. That template contains information on Gyms, Gym Leaders, Elite Four, professors, and others. It also determines the basic personality traits of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four, and how everyone looks. That would explain why Miss Candice in your dimension is quite similar to the one in our dimension. And it also explains why you and I look very similar. But your dimension and our dimension are mere branches from this template. Because of this branching, several people who are in both dimensions with the same name, duty, and personality may have different backgrounds or ambition. An example would be Mr. Lance. In our dimension, he once attempted to destroy humanity. Or so I have heard. In your dimension, he never tried such a thing."

"Wow. That's quite a theory," Hikari muttered. "And it makes so much sense. You're really smart!"

"She's the daughter of a scholar and she'll become one too, someday. Right, Lady?" Diamond said with a proud look on his face.

Platinum nodded. "It has been our family tradition for centuries, and I will honor it to my dying day."

Hikari looked at Diamond and smiled. "So Dia. We have the same template-mother. So… can I think of you like a younger brother? I always envied Haruka for that…"

The Sinnoh Dex Holder thought for a second before he nodded. "Sure, uh… _sis_."

Hikari beamed in joy and hugged her alternate dimension brother, much to Platinum's shock. "Thanks, Dia!"

"Platinum, can I meet your parents now?" she asked afterwards. "I'd love to meet your parents and see if I know of similar looking people from my dimension."

The heiress narrowed her eyes slightly and before she knew it, she made a mistake. "I would highly appreciate it if you would address me as Lady Berlitz," she said, her expression and tone ice-cold. "And my parents are busy. They do not have time for a meeting with you."

Hikari appeared as if she bit a bug. "… Sorry."

Platinum only realized her mistake when she saw the look of disbelief and disappointment Diamond was giving her. She found it very surprising that she could sound so cold and harsh. And she found Diamond's look to be absolutely unbearable.

Hikari soon walked away and Diamond continued to give Platinum his look of… contempt. The heiress panicked but couldn't find the words to make an apology.

"… Lady, that was… cold," Diamond said as he slightly shook his head. "She only wanted to be friends with you."

Platinum began to stammer out an apology, but Diamond had already left to talk and comfort his alternate dimension sister. The heiress watched him leave and soon followed. She had to apologize and hope that Diamond would not look at her any differently…

…

Meanwhile, Littleroot Town, Hoenn…

…

Sapphire hung upside down on a tree right outside Ruby's house while Ruby and Haruka talked to Norman. Sapphire chose to stay outside because she didn't want to be compared with Haruka in front of Ruby's parents. Even though she had a feeling that Norman would like her better over his alternate dimension daughter, she didn't want Ruby pointing out that his alternate dimension sister was… civilized. Freaking sissy…

Soon, the two came out and immediately spotted Sapphire. While Haruka found it shocking that she was in such a predicament on her own, Ruby shook his head and sighed.

"You see, Sapphire? This is why I say you're a barbarian," he said. "Normal civilized human beings don't enjoy hanging upside down on a tree branch 3 meters off the ground."

Sapphire rolled her eyes but soon got off the branch. Upon landing on her feet, she purposely smeared dirt on her clothes just to annoy Ruby. And as expected, his eyes twitched slightly as he saw the large patches of dirt all over her blue clothes.

"By the way, Ruby," Haruka said from behind in an attempt to stop an impending argument between the two Hoenn Dex Holders. "What did your… _our_ dad mean by saying that he had two daughters?"

While Ruby slightly groaned, Sapphire burst into laughter. "Oh, that is just hysterical!" she said in between laughs. "He actually said that?"

"… Yeah," Ruby answered. He looked at his alternate dimension sister. "He… doesn't really like me as much as he should since I don't like battling and he's a battle maniac. He also doesn't like Contests and… I do."

"Oh. I guess he might be happy to hear that he has one son at least," Haruka said. "My actual younger brother wants to take his place as the Petalburg Gym Leader one day."

"See that, Ruby? That's what a _real_ man should aim for!" Sapphire said from behind.

"Quiet, you," Ruby growled as he turned to glare at her. "You're just a barbarian compared to sis here."

"That's it!" Sapphire pointed at Haruka. "You, battle me, right here, right now! This _barbarian_ is going to kick your _civilized_ ass!"

"Um… I don't want to," Haruka said. "You beat Satoshi pretty easily, and he's kind of better than me. So what chance do I have?" A thought occurred and she looked at Ruby expectantly. "Ruby, why don't you battle her?"

Ruby shook his head. "I don't battle. Especially not against this savage. She'll just throw dirt on my Pokémon for the sole purpose of getting them dirty."

"That's why your dad thinks you're a girl!" Sapphire taunted. "Come on, you sissy!"

"… Fine," Ruby said with a sigh. "But not here though. The last thing I want is my house getting destroyed in the crossfire."

* * *

><p><strong>That 'template' in Green and Platinum's theory? The games, of course.<strong>

**Now, it's my decision to throw in the 4****th**** part of the Intermission Scenes at the worst possible time. The Special Intermission I planned will do the same, but that'll be justified. You'll see later. Until then, it's back to the actual SA and… whatever the hell happened to Blue.**

**Next up in the Intermission:  
><strong>**All good things must come to an end. Therefore, it makes damn sense that all bad things must also come to an end. The uninvited visitors go back home, leaving the Dex Holders to themselves! Finally!**

**And no Post Ending or WCHB this time.**


	31. Final Run

**Okay. Now that I stalled long enough with the 3****rd**** part of the intermission, it's time I reveal what happens to Blue. I actually intended to stall until March, but… a suggestion for Valentine's Day led to this. This chapter is the most pairing heavy one in all of SA, so it's suitable. Unless I botched it up. And it is **_**long**_**. This may very well be the longest chapter so far. But it didn't take too long as I've been working on this thing since SA's cancellation warning a while back, along with the Epilogue (yes, I'm looking way too far ahead). So here's my Valentine's Day 'gift'!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 28: Final Run<p>

August 17, 5:30 am, Pallet Town…

Green woke up from his sleep when his Pokégear vibrated ever so violently against the wooden table it was placed upon. He reached over and looked at the time on its screen. 5:30… So he was asleep for two and a half hours. Not the shortest sleep he had, but still far from restful. He then noticed that there was a missed call from Blue. And curiously, she left a voice mail.

'_Maybe she wants to talk now?_' Green thought as he played the voice mail. '_And she couldn't wait until morning, why?_'

A moment later, Blue's voice came from the Pokégear. But it lacked the usual cheerfulness…

"_Green, have I ever told you how much I appreciate our friendship?"_

Green stared at the Pokégear in shock. Blue had never said anything like that before. The girl did have quite a bit of built-up sadness inside her from obvious causes, but she never expressed it. Green tried to call her. But she didn't answer. He tried again, but still got no answer.

He put his Pokégear away and got out of bed. Maybe Blue wanted to talk to him in person? He'd comply then. Green got ready for the day (which wasn't quite here yet) and soon left his house, heading for his grandfather's lab. The sun was starting to rise outside, but the air still had the early dawn scent/feel.

Upon arriving at the lab, he unlocked it and entered quietly. He figured everyone else was still asleep, and he knew that they needed their rest. After all, this was the day when the Dex Holders were going to mount an assault on the ShadowNet HQ.

Being careful to not cause any loud creaks in the floor, Green made his way upstairs. He soon arrived at the room Blue was staying in and knocked on the door. He waited a few seconds before knocking again. There was no movement from the inside, so Green carefully opened the door.

No one was inside. Though the circumstances were quite unusual, Green decided to wait for her to either call again, or return from wherever she went.

Blue did call again, exactly 30 minutes after her first call. Green picked it up, but realized that it wasn't actually Blue calling. It was just another voice mail that was sent to him automatically. And these messages were being sent once every 30 minutes…

"_I really do appreciate your company. But is that feeling mutual? … That's a stupid question. Of course it's not…"_

Green left Blue's room and headed towards another. It was clear that Blue was in some kind of distress. And these automated messages seem to have been recorded the previous night, after her 'fight' with him. She sounded quite upset… Regardless, she was in distress, and he needed to save her. But he had absolutely no clue where she was. He needed to trace the automated messages, but he didn't know how. Blue would know, and so would Crystal. But he couldn't ask Crystal to help. She was effectively crippled and needed all the rest she could get to recover. And because of her injuries, she couldn't really leave Pallet Town.

There was only one person who could help him in this situation. And he opened the door to her room without knocking. Inside, he spotted White lying on her side on the floor, still fast asleep. She had basically wrapped herself into a cocoon with her blankets and appeared to be quite uncomfortable.

Under normal circumstances, Green wouldn't wake her up. Not after what she went through along with Black in Route 43. And after an undoubtedly perilous ride Red gave her from Route 43 to Mahogany Town (that somehow didn't injure any of the four Dex Holders), Green knew that White would need her sleep. But this was an emergency.

"White, wake up," he said as he shook her by the shoulder.

The Unova Dex Holder simply mumbled in her sleep. She sounded as if she was firing someone in her sleep… Weird. Why was it that there wasn't a single _normal_ girl in the Dex Holders? Green shook his head and tried to wake up White once more. He shook her harder by the shoulders. Still, it failed. But at least she wasn't firing anyone anymore.

"… No," White murmured in her sleep. "Not the hairbrush… … not again…"

"Wake up! That's an order!" Green yelled into his junior's ear.

White snapped awake and opened her eyes. She immediately spotted a dark silhouette looming on top of her and screamed. But the dark silhouette saw that coming and clasped a hand over her mouth, rendering her quiet. The girl struggled to push the silhouette, but couldn't. She was about to try kicking, but stopped. She couldn't move anyways because of the blankets that were binding her immobile, but also because the silhouette appeared familiar.

"Stay quiet," Green warned. "Don't wake up anyone else."

White nodded, despite still being scared senseless. She sincerely hoped her senior wasn't trying to do what she thought he was going to do, sneaking into her room, while she was asleep, in the middle of the night, quietly, _alone_, with the lights out…

"Wh – What are you doing here?" she asked, rather afraid of the answer.

"I need your help," Green answered, his tone dead serious. He then pulled the tightly wrapped blankets off of his junior, much to her horror. The girl curled up into a ball, trembling in terror. Thanks to the darkness, Green couldn't see that. "Blue's in trouble, and all I know is that she's somehow sending me automated messages every half hour. I need you to trace the calls and find out where Blue is. I'd get Crystal to do it, but she needs her rest, as you can understand."

"Oh," the Unova Dex Holder muttered as she relaxed. She let out a long sigh of relief. "Oh, good. Whew. I thought you were here to… … never mind."

When his junior rose to her feet and straightened her clothes, Green understood what she meant. And he promptly whacked her on the back of the head.

"Ow! Hey, that hurt!" the girl complained.

"Get your mind straight."

"It was a valid concern! It's not normal to have someone looming over you in the middle of the night! … And besides, you really scared me. I couldn't think straight." She cleared her throat to try to avoid the awkward silence. "S – So… Blue's in trouble? How?"

"Don't know. That's why I need to find her."

Within 10 minutes, White finished getting ready for the day and jogged towards Green, who was waiting inside the main research room of the lab. The girl sat at the table and started up her laptop.

"I don't know why exactly you think I'd be of any help," she said quietly. "I mean… I don't know how to trace a phone call."

"But you're more technologically savvy than I am."

"Says the guy who has a hardlight hologram in his Gym," White muttered.

"It's not hardlight. It's just a hologram. You can walk through it."

The Unova Dex Holder took her senior's Pokégear and plugged it into her laptop. After many minutes of researching, she soon understood how to trace an incoming call/message. And just as she achieved breakthrough, the third automated message was received.

"_I really do care about you, Green. Sometimes, I get the feeling that you care for me too. But other times, I really think you don't give a damn about me…"_

White frowned at the message but did her best to trace it. "It's coming from Johto," she said at last. "Not entirely sure where in Johto, though."

"Then pack your laptop," Green said. "We're going to Johto, and you'll have to trace the messages as they come."

White nodded and prepared to leave. But she stopped midway and looked at Green. "That message… Did you two fight yesterday?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I think I talked to her enough to get a rough idea on what she's like," the girl said. "And I know that she kind of… likes you. She wouldn't say things like this."

Green remained silent for a few seconds before he spoke. "She said that I didn't care about her and we had a short argument. She said she doubted that I'll ever come to her rescue…"

"You do care about her, right?"

"Of course. That's why I need to find her right now."

The two Dex Holders soon left for Johto. White rode Green's Charizard with him so that she could use her laptop without having to land and without risks of dropping it.

On the way to central Johto, the fourth automated message arrived.

"_I can't imagine what my life would've been like if it wasn't for you and Red. You saved my life, but I don't know if you would do it intentionally…"_

"The signal's coming from north," White said. "If… if Blue's in trouble, and her signal is from northern Johto… Could it be that she's-"

"In Route 43…" Green finished for her. "ShadowNet related." He tapped his Charizard and pointed towards Route 43. "Double time. Go!"

By the time the two Dex Holders arrived at Route 43, the fifth automated message arrived.

"_I know you think I'm annoying. And for whatever it's worth, I'm sorry. You probably won't believe me…"_

"The signal's definitely coming from close by," White said as she closed her laptop and put it away in her bag. "Blue's around here, somewhere." She looked at the ground below and frowned. "… This whole area somehow looks different than the last time I was here."

Green nodded. "There's not supposed to be a river here. Where's the ShadowNet HQ?"

"It's… supposed to be over there," White said as she pointed at building wreckage half submerged in muddy water.

Green got his Charizard to land somewhere stable. Afterwards, he started to walk towards the highest ground, being careful to avoid pits of water and unstable ground. White did her best to follow.

Within a few minutes, the two Dex Holders arrived at a small yet tall, steep, mountainous rock formation. It was by far the highest point in Route 43, and therefore the best place to be in order to avoid being swept by a flash flood.

"White, come over here," Green said as he examined the rock formation.

White soon arrived next to Green and took a second to catch her breath. She didn't know how Green could literally _fly_ across the mud and rocky ground… She examined the rock formation and soon spotted something.

"… Is that what I think it is?" she asked as she pointed at a thin trail of red reaching from the top of the rock formation and down to the ground.

"It's blood," Green answered. "We have to get up there."

White was about to send out her Vullaby when Green started to climb the near vertical rock formation.

"Um… Green? Why don't we just use our Pokémon?"

"Save their strength," Green answered. "And train yourself. Don't be soft."

White rolled her eyes and grumbled silently before she began climbing. '_Oh… trapped in a car that's rolling like a ball, trapped in the same car underwater, almost getting run over by another one, and almost driven headfirst into a building thanks to Red, and now this…_'

As Green climbed, he noticed that the blood trail was getting thicker and thicker until he finally reached the top. There was a large boulder on top, and the blood seemed to be coming from behind. After taking a quick look around, he proceeded forward and around the boulder.

As expected, he spotted Blue sitting on the ground, leaning against the large boulder. There was a large amount of blood on her and all around, and a large gaping wound between her neck and her left shoulder… He quickly crouched in front of her and tapped her on the uninjured shoulder. She didn't respond at all and the Gym Leader started to worry. The brim of the girl's hat was covering her eyes, so Green couldn't tell whether she was even awake. But her skin felt awfully cold…

The Gym Leader raised the brim of Blue's hat and instantly froze. The girl's eyes were open, but her usually bright blue eyes were blank and lifeless. But there were tear marks on her face. And the marks were still wet… Green quickly snapped out of his shock and tried shaking her. She still didn't respond and instead, her body began to slide to the left as Green's shakes disrupted equilibrium and thus the body was no longer able to maintain the sitting position.

Blue's body remained slumped on the ground and Green simply stared at her in shock. Just then, White barely managed to finish climbing the rocky ledge. She let out a short sigh of relief and came closer. Upon spotting Blue, she immediately gasped in horror.

"N – No… Blue…" She looked at Green while trembling. "Is… is she…"

Green checked his close friend's pulse with shaking hands. Her skin was ice cold and he couldn't feel anything in his fingertips. Green started to panic and looked around, desperately trying to find something that could fix the situation. There wasn't anything he could do, but he felt that he should do _something_. Looking at the amount of blood, it was clear that Blue had bled to death. Was there something that could be done to fix that? Sadly, no.

"Blue…" he muttered as he felt tears falling from his eyes. "No… this can't be… How could this happen?" He looked over at White to see if she had a solution of some kind. But the Unova Dex Holder was crying on her knees, as she knew that nothing could be done.

Green wiped away his tears and looked at Blue. He couldn't stand looking at her lifeless eyes and he gently closed them for her. As he did so, he noticed something. It seemed that Blue was holding something in her left hand. An audio recorder…

Green took it and examined it. The record button wasn't pushed in, indicating that Blue did finish recording her last message and had the recording rewound to its start. Green was about to press the play button when he glanced over at White. The girl saw his glance and forced herself to calm down. With her crying like this, there was no way that Green would be able to hear Blue's final message.

Once everything was quiet, Green pressed the play button. The recording started and immediately, Green could hear Blue gasping for air before she calmed herself.

"_Green… You always put duty above personal matters, so I'll do the same. I buried ShadowNet HQ, as you could probably tell. But there are probably lots of members left out there. And if I had to guess, they'll head straight for Pallet Town in a last ditch effort. And that's not all you have to worry about. There's someone else that's not ShadowNet who's planning to take over the world. And that'll be a problem very soon once ShadowNet is done for. I'm sure you'll know what to do when that time comes."_

There was a pause as Blue took a few seconds to catch her breath.

"_Now on to the personal… I don't know when you'll come to find me. I don't know __**if**__ you'll find me. I've programmed a little device on my necklace pendant to send you a distress call once every 30 minutes. I had the messages recorded several years ago, but changed a few last night. There's no sense in sending you outdated messages. Those messages were supposed to tell you of my last thoughts before I die, should anything sudden happen. To stop the automated calls, press my fingers against the pendant and hold for 3 seconds. It's fingerprint-sensitive."_

Green paused the recording and moved Blue's ice cold fingers onto her necklace pendant and pressed it for 3 seconds. He heard a light beep as the device shut off. He still held Blue's hand as he resumed the recording.

"_It's been over two hours since I pressed the button. The fifth message would be sent to you in about 5 minutes. How much longer would it take for you to find me? Days? … Was I right in thinking that you wouldn't come to my aid even if I was in trouble? Knowing you, it wouldn't take this long to find me, if you were looking. I know you have to trace these messages, but I know you can do it. You're Green. You never fail."_

Green stared at Blue, with more tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He did fail this time. He was just… 10 minutes too late. Had he arrived 10 minutes earlier, he could've proven to Blue that he did care for her before she died…

"_I never made you promise me anything. That's because you shouldn't make a girl a promise that you can't keep. You'll always be too busy with your tasks to look after me. But could you sacrifice me to complete your mission? Could you watch me die? … Knowing you, you'll say yes… You always thought I was annoying. You probably think being around me is a waste of time. I don't even know if I should be recording my last thoughts. A big part of me thinks that I shouldn't because you'll never hear this anyways. But… I do hope that you'll listen to this: a foolish girl's last words… Please, Green. For once, put me in the top of your priorities and come find me… I – I don't want to die like this… I don't want to die resenting you. So please come and find me! You… you __**are**__ coming for me, right? … Right?"_

Green paused the recording. He didn't know if he could take the rest of the message. Each word seemed to stab through his heart. Blue died hating him, thinking that he didn't care for her, and knowing that he was heartless. He wanted to prove her wrong more than ever. But he couldn't. It was far too late. He continued the recording. He had to listen to the end… it was Blue's last wish. Blue didn't talk for a while as she was crying. After a minute of sobbing, she managed to calm down enough to resume talking.

"_I'm sorry… But you won't make it. It's not your fault. It's my fault. I should've told you years ago. I should've told you that I loved you. That way, even though you won't like me in the slightest, at least I wouldn't have stayed around you. I'm sorry, Green. I really am. … … I really do envy Platinum. She has everything I don't… and everything I want. She has people who take care of her; people who'll do everything they can to keep her happy. She even has Dia who loves her deeply. Too bad she's completely blind to that. Still, she has everything I could ever want. She has someone who loves her. It's the one thing I really wish I had…"_

Blue started to cough and gasp as if she exerted too much strength talking. She was crying as well, which made it very difficult for her to talk. But she managed to finish her last message with all of her remaining strength.

"_But… it's all over now. There won't be any more sadness… anger… or envy… It's… it's… over… … Goodbye, Green…"_

Green shut off the audio recorder and put it away. Afterwards, he simply stared ahead into the horizon, not knowing what to do or say. He always believed that regret was a foolish thing. But right now, he regretted a lot of things. He regretted not treating Blue the way she deserved. He regretted not telling her his feelings. And most of all, he regretted how he made her feel that he didn't like her. She died thinking he didn't care for her. And that fact was going to stay with him forever…

White forced herself to stay calm and struggled up to her feet. She didn't look at Blue. She couldn't handle seeing her team leader's dead body. But right now, she was more worried about Green. She had to calm him down and try to reword Blue's last message so he wouldn't destroy himself for what happened.

"Green, I-"

Without warning, Green sent out his Charizard. He gingerly lifted Blue's body onto his arms and hopped onto his Charizard. And without even looking at White, he headed back to Pallet Town. The Unova girl wiped away her tears and sent out her Vullaby so she could return to Pallet Town as well.

When the two Dex Holders returned to Professor Oak's lab, everything suddenly fell quiet. Silver was too stunned for words and simply stared at the dead body of the one person he cared about the most in the whole world. Everything he had, he basically owed to Blue, and now she was dead. And he couldn't take it.

Everyone else didn't say anything, as they didn't know what to say. Red and Yellow simply remained seated on the couch, unable to do anything else. Eventually Yellow started crying and Red had to wipe away his own tears. Silver broke the horrible silence with a mad swear for revenge. Gold and Crystal tried to calm him down, but to little avail. Silver was still in the third stage of the Unown infection and using the enhanced strength, simply pushed Gold across the lab and into a wall. He only managed to calm down when Crystal threw her injured body onto him, knowing that he wouldn't push her as well. Silver did calm down, but he did have to fight the urge to push her into another wall, which would hurt her greatly.

Once everything fell quiet again, it was time for Blue's funeral. Since ShadowNet forces were still out there, the funeral had to be short. The girl was buried in the lab's backyard, and the eulogies were done by Red, Yellow, and Silver. Green still didn't say a word and it appeared that he may stay like this permanently. Everyone else watched quietly, including Sapphire, who fought her injury to attend the funeral.

Once the funeral ended, the Dex Holders scattered around the lab to deal with the loss their own way. White contemplated in talking to Green, but decided to talk to Black first. There was something she needed to take care of…

"Black, can I talk to you?"

"Sure, Miss President. What's up?"

"Do you… remember what I told you yesterday?"

Black thought for a couple of seconds. "That you loved me?"

"Before that," White said with a rather sick expression. "I… said I needed to tell you that because I was afraid something terrible was going to happen to me."

"… What about it? Didn't you just say that because we almost drowned in that lake?" Black asked with a worried expression.

White shook her head. "No… Lately… my heart has been beating rather erratically every now and then. I went to that portable hospital in that blimp to see if the doctors can figure out what's wrong with me, but they couldn't. With what happened with Blue today… I – I'm just scared that I might… die soon."

Black pulled her closer and held her arms. "Miss President, what are you saying?"

White looked into his eyes. "Do you really love me?"

Black nodded. "Yes. I love you." '_And I'm sure this time._'

White stared into his eyes for a few seconds, searching for sincerity. "Thanks Black," she said with a sheepish smile once she found the sincerity. She reached over and kissed him. "Blue died without knowing that Green loved her. I just don't want that happening to me."

"It won't," Black said. "Because I'll make sure nothing bad happens to you."

White nodded and hugged him again. Afterwards, she went to find Green. As the only other person to hear Blue's final message, the Unova Dex Holder found it imperative to _translate_ the Kanto girl's final message so that Green wouldn't destroy himself for what happened. His lack of words was a sign that she had to hurry.

She soon found the Gym Leader upstairs in the room where Blue used to stay, staring out the window with a blank look.

"Green?" White called quietly. "Can I… talk to you?" Green didn't say anything, so White assumed it was a 'no'. But she walked up to him anyways. "I need to talk to you about Blue's last message."

Green turned to look at her. He wasn't glaring, but his gaze seemed icy cold. "… Why?" he asked at last.

"Because I think there's been a miscommunication," the Unova Dex Holder said after a nervous gulp. No matter how many times she talked to him, she always found his look to be intimidating, unlike Red… "Don't blame yourself for Blue's death."

"… And why is that?"

"Because it's not your fault. You did all you could to get to her. She said it herself that she doubted you'll make it in time. Be reasonable. She left for ShadowNet HQ without letting you know. And with the distance, and time needed to trace the calls and such, it was impossible for you to get there in time."

"You heard her last message. And you're telling me that she didn't blame me for what happened?"

"She loved you," White said after a short moment of thought. "She didn't hate you. Didn't you hear her cry? She was just expressing how sad she was with what things appeared to be. She was just really sad that she never got to tell you anything. Please, Green. You have to believe me. Blue was just-"

Green abruptly left the room. "… Come, White. You heard Blue. Remaining ShadowNet forces incoming," he said just as he walked through the doorway. "We'll continue talking afterwards."

"… Duty first?" White asked in disbelief as she followed her senior.

"Personal matters can come afterwards."

White considered in trying to convince Green further, but decided against it. She knew that ShadowNet was coming to Pallet Town, and she understood that dealing with them was more important right now. But still, she couldn't help but imagine if Green just didn't want to think about Blue's last words as they were too painful, and ShadowNet was just a great excuse to focus on something else.

Before long, Green was standing in front of every Dex Holder, with a chalkboard behind him. White found it quite surprising that Sapphire was standing behind her, willing to fight despite her condition.

"Listen up," Green said in monotone. "Before her death, Blue sent me a message saying that she buried ShadowNet HQ. White and I saw the remains of that HQ, so it's true. However, Blue also said that she believes all of the remaining ShadowNet members are going to throw a massive attack against Pallet Town in order to kill us. So we have to prepare." He began to draw a map of Route 1 – Pallet Town on the chalkboard. "This is what we're going to do. We're going to have Crystal and Emerald's Mr. Mimes create a bottleneck using Reflect and Light Screen. But we'll need doors that only we can see because we'll be attacking ShadowNet from 10 directions at once. Emerald, you'll know what I'm talking about, so you'll be leading those Mr. Mimes. Next… Platinum, you'll be luring the ShadowNet forces from Route 1 and into Pallet Town. When all of their forces are inside the bottleneck, I'll block their exit and attack from behind. Then Platinum, along with Yellow and Black, you will attack their front. When that happens, Red, Gold, Silver, and Pearl will attack them from the doors on the left, and Ruby, Emerald, Diamond, and White will attack from the doors on the right. Yellow, when you feel the enemy is confused enough, hit them with Volt Tackle. The moment Volt Tackle hits, everyone else will attack at the same time with Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, and Frenzy Plant. Any questions?"

Sapphire somehow raised a hand. "Wh – What about me and Crystal?" she asked, her voice quite hoarse and weak. "We can fight here…"

"No," Green said. "If ShadowNet sees you two, they will attack you first, and with your current status, you will not survive. I want you two to go back to the hospital and focus on recovery. Which means, Diamond, take Crystal's Meganium. Pearl, take Sapphire's Blaziken. And Platinum, you'll get Blue's Blastoise. You'll need them for the Ultimate Moves."

"But-" Crystal tried to object, but Green wouldn't allow her.

"Yellow and Platinum, take those two back to the hospital. And tell the doctors to keep them inside at all costs."

"This is bullsh*t," Sapphire muttered as Platinum supported her from the side. "Replaced by my juniors for the fight against the big enemy… How f*cking shameful…"

Once the four girls left, Green looked at the others. "Any other questions?"

Gold watched Crystal leave and once the door closed, he waited five seconds before getting up to his feet. "Not a question, but an alternate suggestion."

"What do you have?"

"One problem with this is that… this plan will either kill you, or cripple you," Gold said as he crossed his arms. "When the tide turns, all of ShadowNet is going to make a mad dash for the exit point, which you'll be blocking. Even if they're here for a last ditch effort, they still won't sit in the bottleneck and wait to be destroyed. With all of them charging at you at once wave after wave _and_ with the Ultimate Moves' blasts heading towards you, you won't be able to hold your ground."

"I know that," Green answered. "But I have to do this."

"No you don't," Gold said. "I know we'll need fire to block the exit and stall until things become desperate for them. Which is why I want to take your place in that plan."

"Wait, what?" Emerald muttered. "But… you'll die!"

Gold didn't respond to him and continued looking at Green and the chalkboard. "Now, there's another reason why I _need_ to take your place." He suddenly sighed and looked down at the floor. "… Don't tell Crys. But I need to do this to set things right. … I can't stay with her, no matter how much we both want that to happen. You need to look after her and take care of her. If you go with your plan right now and something happens to you, we're all screwed." He turned to look at Red. "No offense, senior Red, but I don't think we'll last that long if you're in charge of all of us."

Red simply shrugged. "Probably."

Gold looked back at Green. "And if anything happened to you, no one will be able to take care of Crys. Because I know I won't be able to. So we trade places. Even if anything happens to me, everyone else is fine."

Green saw the determination in Gold's eyes and sighed. "… Have it your way."

The meeting ended and the Dex Holders scattered to prepare for the incoming invasion. Emerald approached Gold after making sure they were alone.

"… Are you sure about this?" he asked. "Crystal's not going to be happy when she finds out you volunteered for this."

"It'll be okay," the Johto Dex Holder said with a bitter smile. "This is the way I'll atone for what I did. I will reject my bias and make amends." He looked at Emerald and patted him on the shoulder. "… Tell them to make it count. … And take care of Crys."

Once Emerald left to create the bottleneck, Gold stood in silence for a few minutes before he headed toward the hospital. He wanted to be with Crystal at least one more time.

Inside the portable hospital in the Hoenn Pokémon Association blimp, Ruby sat beside Sapphire and held her down as the painkiller was injected. Once the girl was docile, he let go of her and sighed in relief.

"Sapphire, just stay in bed. Don't do anything."

"Come on, Ruby. You know I can still fight," Sapphire argued.

"Yeah. And I also know that you'll _die_ if you do fight. And I don't want to lose you."

Sapphire looked into his eyes and smiled a little. "So you do remember this time? You didn't hit your head against a tree or something?"

"Hm? Remember what?" Ruby asked with a blank look.

"Oh, you bastard!" Sapphire yelled in anger. She winced at the pain that was felt through the painkiller and quickly calmed down.

"I'm just kidding, Sapphire," Ruby said with a smile. "I remember."

"… Prove it."

Ruby took a quick glance to make sure no one else was around and reached down and kissed her. "How's that for a proof?"

"… I – It's okay," Sapphire stammered, blushing in embarrassment. "Thanks, Ruby."

The boy smiled at her for a few seconds before he rose to his feet. "Now I have to go and prepare for the fight. You stay here and _don't leave_."

Sapphire nodded. "Okay. You just be careful. And Ruby?"

"Hm?"

"If you die," she said slowly. "… I'll kill you."

"… Whatever you say."

In one of the other rooms, Crystal sat on her bed, staring at the wall with a bored expression. She was forced onto the bed again and felt so damn useless. She understood that Blue's death was quite a shock to Green, so perhaps that was why he didn't want any crippled Dex Holders in the fight. He was probably afraid of losing anyone else.

When Gold entered and Crystal saw his expression, she understood what was going to happen. And she had to stop it at all costs.

"Gold," she started as the goggled boy took a seat next to her bed. "Something tells me that… you're going to do something very dangerous and reckless in the oncoming fight."

Gold flinched at her words, but didn't say anything. Crystal held his hands and looked into his eyes.

"Please," she said. "Don't do anything crazy. If anything happened to you… I – I wouldn't know what to do."

"So what do you want me to do, Crys?" Gold asked rather quietly.

"I… want you to stay here with me and not participate in the battle. I know it's much to ask since the others will be expecting your help, but this is the only guarantee I'll have that you won't do anything dangerous. I need you here, Gold."

Gold looked into her eyes and slowly nodded. "… Okay, Crys. I'll stay here with you."

Crystal sighed in relief and hugged him. "Thank you Gold."

"I know you won't get to hear me say this much, but I love you Crys. I really do."

"I know, Gold. Thanks."

…

Few hours later, 3 pm…

…

Gold glanced at the door as it opened and spotted Emerald. The Hoenn Dex Holder gave his senior a slight nod, indicating that it was time. Gold nodded back and looked over at Crystal. She was fast asleep, due to the effects of her painkiller. Gold reached over and kissed her one last time before he rose to his feet. He then placed an envelope on the table next to her bed and soon left.

The Dex Holders soon got into their positions after having their headsets redistributed. With some Dex Holders not requiring headsets anymore and with newly created ones, there was just enough for the participating Dex Holders to be equipped.

In Route 1, every single ShadowNet member started to flood towards Pallet Town. No one had any of the Spike Cannon or Electro Ball weapons, as all those weapons were either in the Johto HQ in Goldenrod, or the main HQ in Route 43, which were both destroyed and buried.

In the entrance to Pallet Town, Platinum saw the horde approaching and had signaled the other Dex Holders. But because she had to lure ShadowNet deeper into the trap, she pretended to not see them and instead, continued playing with her Lopunny and Rapidash. She only pretended to notice when a ShadowNet grunt's Pokémon tried to attack her. The attack, which appeared to be a Focus Blast, hit her on the head and knocked her off her feet. It didn't hurt her at all, as her RLS system was still functioning. Green had upgraded the system for stronger shields and faster recharge, at the loss of a manual recharge (which didn't work properly to start with).

Platinum pretended to panic and quickly returned her Lopunny. She then hopped onto her Rapidash and had it run deeper into Pallet Town. The ShadowNet aerial and ground forces chased as fast as they could, some attacking with Hyper Beam as they charged. The leading ground forces found out that something was wrong when their Pokémon's attacks did not reach the girl. They definitely realized that something was odd when they ran smack into an invisible barrier, knocking themselves out.

The lucky members of the leading grunts who didn't hit the barrier soon realized that there was an opening in the barrier. The grunts following learned from the leading ones and avoided the invisible wall and carefully charged through the opening. The leading aerial forces smashed into the wall as well. The remainder saw their fates and decided to abandon ShadowNet entirely. It was a reasonable decision. The group had no buildings left, they never won a single battle, all their plans pretty much backfired, and now, a quarter of the attack force knocked themselves out by running into a wall. Clearly the best course of action was to bravely turn their tail and flee.

But the remainder of the ground forces continued charging. They could not back out, as their absolute leader was with them. Just a few seconds after the last of the ground forces entered the narrow passage between the invisible walls, a Dex Holder appeared from behind and sealed the exit with fire.

Gold grinned through the wall of fire and stared at the trapped ShadowNet grunts. "And yet, _still_ you fail!"

Seeing the fire in her peripheral vision, Platinum spun around and sent out her entire team. Black and Yellow popped out of hiding and sent out their entire teams to help out. The ShadowNet forces started to panic at the unexpected attack. They couldn't spread out and use the numbers to their advantage because of the invisible walls.

Taking advantage of this, the 8 Dex Holders appeared out of hiding and used the pre-built invisible pathways to attack ShadowNet in the narrow passage from all over the place.

"Sir! We're trapped and we're under heavy attack!" one ShadowNet grunt yelled.

"No sh*t!" the ShadowNet boss yelled back. "Fight back! Fight your way through!"

The ShadowNet forces tried their absolute best to fight back. But as time passed, more and more grunts fell to panic and within two hours, only a handful remained willing to fight.

The boss gritted his teeth. "Everyone, fight your way out of here! Through the way we came!" He then turned to look at his personal assistant. "You and I are going to fight our way through. But we're going to hit the weakest Dex Holder on our way. The Dex Holder who's guarding our exit is strong, and he'll know we'll come. But the weakest one who's attacking from the side won't be ready."

From the entrance to the bottleneck, Gold watched as a massive Electric attack hit the leading ShadowNet grunts near Pallet Town. He quickly realized that the Electric attack was Yellow's Volt Tackle. He then let out a long sigh and returned his entire team except for his Typhlosion.

"… That's right," he muttered. "… Send me out with a bang… … Explotaro, Blast Burn!"

Seeing the Ultimate Attacks all being fired at once, White quickly backed away and proceeded to close the invisible door. She had to shut the door so none of the ShadowNet members would try to escape through that path. But just before she could seal the exit, an Ursaring's paw stuck out and prevented the invisible door from closing. White tried her best to push the paw out of the way, but the Ursaring forced the door to open, thereby sending the girl flying away. Taking this time, two ShadowNet members quickly went through the door and then shut it, preventing anyone else from doing the same.

White jumped back to her feet and sent out her Pokémon. She was sure that she could take on a pair of ShadowNet grunts, even though she was (admittedly) the weakest Dex Holder. Unfortunately, her opponents were not merely grunts. From the way the two ShadowNet members interacted, White realized that she was staring at the absolute leader of the faction and his assistant…

There was a huge explosion from the center of the created bottleneck as the Ultimate Moves collided. Black took cover on the ground until the shockwave passed. He then sighed in relief as all of the ShadowNet forces were either knocked unconscious or too injured to continue fighting. Those too close to the explosion probably died. The battle was long and difficult, but the Dex Holders have won. They successfully repelled their final assault, which meant that all that was left was to capture the surviving ShadowNet forces, and… clean up the massive mess they made in Route 1 – Pallet Town.

"Black! I need help!" White's voice rang out from his headset. "The boss of ShadowNet is here!"

"Alright. I'm coming," Black said as he started to run.

"Please hurry and help me!" White's voice came again. "He's too strong for me to handle!"

Black recognized the panic in her voice and ran as fast as he could. "Miss President, hang in there! I'm coming!"

As he ran, he could hear White giving orders to her Pokémon, as she didn't even have time to shut off her headset. Black could hear the effects of the battle in his headset and he could tell that she was struggling badly.

"Ah! No!" came White's panicked scream just as Black reached the center of the now-dissipated bottleneck. He took a look around but couldn't spot White quite yet.

"Miss President, what's wrong?" Black asked hastily.

"Black! Please… help! I – I can't…"

Black tried to run even faster but couldn't, as he was at maximum possible speed. He wished that his Braviary wasn't so worn out from the battles…

"So this is what it feels like to kill a Dex Holder," an unfamiliar voice came through his headset, presumably belonging to a ShadowNet member.

Black temporarily froze. But to his relief, he could still hear White. She was gasping for air and it was clear that she was struggling.

"Ugh… g – get off me!" she choked out.

Black resumed running. He could hear White struggling as she fought off the ShadowNet boss by herself. The girl was coughing and panting to catch her breath and Black figured that she had broken free from the hands of the ShadowNet boss.

White's sudden pained scream interrupted his thoughts. "N – No, no, n- Ah!"

"Miss President!" Black yelled through his headset. "What's wrong? Miss President?!"

"Ungh… g – gah!" White's screams have died out but she was gasping and moaning in pain. And there was some kind of sickening sound of flesh being torn…

Black soon spotted White in the distance. He continued his full powered sprint when he saw her predicament. White's feet weren't touching the ground, as the girl was being held half a meter above the ground. But… she wasn't quite being _held_ above ground. An Ursaring had stabbed her in the stomach with its claws and had forced its paw up, keeping the girl above the ground in the worst possible way. Thanks to gravity, White was being pulled into the sharp claws. The claws were ripping through the girl's flesh from the inside and were steadily being dragged upwards in comparison. The Ursaring had stabbed White in the lower stomach but by the time Black arrived, the claws were touching the girl's ribs.

"Miss President! No!" Black cried as he sent out his entire team, half of which weren't able to fight. But the two ShadowNet members weren't able to battle properly either. Their Pokémon were scattered all around, knocked out from the battle against White. White's Pokémon were with them as well, as they were eventually defeated. "You bastards! Let go of her!"

The Ursaring punched White in the chest with its other paw, thereby pushing her off of its claws. White crumpled on the ground as the ShadowNet boss and his assistant continued their retreat. The Ursaring was returned to its Pokéball just as Black's Emboar was about to attack. Black wanted to chase them, but White was more important.

Black quickly knelt beside White who was trembling in agony. The girl was trying to stop the bleeding on her stomach with her arms, but it was futile. The wounds were way too deep and serious. She managed to open her eyes and looked over at Black.

"Miss President," Black muttered in panic.

"Black…" White choked out through the blood rising up to her throat. "I – I'm s – sorry… I… I tried to s – stop him… But he… he was… too strong…"

"Miss President, please don't talk," Black said as he carefully lifted White's body off of the ground and onto his arms. "You're going to be okay. The hospital is just a few minutes away. The doctors are going to heal you."

White shook her head. She tried to say her last thoughts but couldn't speak. Dark blood was beginning to clot inside her throat and as such, she wasn't even able to breathe, let alone talk. So instead, she mustered all of her remaining strength to reach up towards him and kissed him on the mouth. Black trembled as he knew that his newly-found girlfriend's death was imminent.

"Help," he called, his voice awfully quiet due to shock. "Someone he-"

White reached up and pressed a hand over his mouth. When he looked at her, she slowly shook her head. She wanted to be alone with him in her final moments… Black understood and kissed her as tears fell from his eyes.

"Miss President, please don't die. I love you too much. Please…"

He didn't receive a response, as White was no longer capable of speech. She still kept her eyes on his, even with tears clouding her vision. The tears eventually streamed down her cheeks and she trembled even more violently as she tried to cry. She managed to give him a faint satisfied and longing smile that was terribly heartbreaking. Black pulled her closer and gently hugged her. He could feel White resting her head against his and felt her tears dripping onto his neck.

After what seemed like half a second into the hug, Black felt White loosening in his arms. She wasn't trembling anymore and he could feel her entire body weight leaning against him. Terrified of the realization that dawned on him, Black pulled back and looked at her face. To his utter horror, White's eyes were closed and her faint smile was gone. Black tried shaking her but she didn't move.

"Miss President?" Black called as he started to cry. "Miss President? Please wake up… please… you can't die. Please…" But White didn't respond.

Black embraced her tight again and kissed her on the lips. He didn't care about the girl's blood spilling onto him. He didn't care about anything anymore. He simply held onto her body and cried. The person he cared about the most in the world had just died in his arms…

Unaware that they had lost another friend, the other Dex Holders all stared at the carnage, relieved that the battle was over. Green had contacted Erika to let her know that ShadowNet was done for, so that the other Kanto Gym Leaders could come in and take all the surviving ShadowNet grunts away.

As examined the mess of bodies and flaming patches of grass, thoughts went over to Gold, who wasn't with them. Emerald quickly ran towards the Hoenn Pokémon Association blimp to get Crystal. She had to right to know… Ruby followed, but just so he could go see Sapphire. Green and Silver slowly returned to Pallet Town. Now that they avenged Blue's death against ShadowNet, they needed time to fully process her death. After taking a glance at the remaining Dex Holders, Diamond and Pearl approached Platinum, who was still busy observing the carnage.

"Lady, are you okay?" Diamond asked as he stood right beside her.

Platinum faced him and nodded with a faint smile. Even though she knew that her father still loved her and the one who disowned her was just a ShadowNet grunt in disguise, she still didn't talk as much as before. Diamond figured that the heiress was just being careful. He knew that it would take time for her to return to normal, so he let the issue slide. Instead, he examined her from head to toe, worried that she may have been injured. However, unlike every other Dex Holder, Platinum was… completely unharmed. There wasn't a single scratch on her, thanks to her RLS system. She did have some dirt on her black shorts from when she was knocked down to the ground due to the initial Focus Blast, but otherwise, nothing touched her.

Platinum turned to look at the carnage again. "… Do you think my father will be proud of me?" she asked quietly.

"Of course," Diamond answered. "You played a very important role in defeating evil. Of course he'll be proud of you."

"But there are some who died," the heiress muttered. "… I must go talk to my father."

"I'll go talk to him," Pearl offered. "That way, in the off chance that he is angry, I can convince him that it wasn't your doing. So you stay out here with Dia, okay Miss Lady?"

Pearl gave Diamond a quick eye signal and walked away. The relaxed Dex Holder soon took Platinum's hand and led away from the carnage and towards the shadow of a large tree. The heiress did not seem to mind the fact that he was holding her hand. The two Sinnoh Dex Holders sat down in the shade and relaxed.

"Diamond," Platinum said quietly. "Thank you for your continuous support. I really do not know how to thank you enough."

"It's nothing, Lady," Diamond said with a sheepish smile. "Now that everything's over, let's just relax and rest." He reached into his bag and took out a large plastic container containing a large chocolate pie which he had been saving for a while. "Here, let's eat!"

Platinum did not protest, so Diamond took out two dishes and utensils for the snack. He took a large piece for himself and gave Platinum another large piece. The heiress smiled at him and proceeded to eat the pie. But she struggled with the utensil once again, so Diamond took the utensils from her. As he proceeded to feed her (again), he noticed that this time, she did not hesitate at all. Instead, she smiled in gratitude and he smiled back. Platinum looked very happy despite recent happenings, and seeing her happy absolutely delighted him. He felt so close to her, and he believed that very shortly, he would be able to make his third attempt at a confession. And if he really was as close to the girl as he thought, she would love him too.

From just a few meters away, Red was about to search for Gold with Yellow when he heard a static from his headset. Much to Yellow's concern, his expression severely darkened.

"Yellow," he said once he shut off his headset. "That was Black. … White's dead."

Yellow gasped in horror. "Oh no… We have to go talk to him."

"Yeah. Let's go."

Back in the Hoenn Pokémon Association blimp, Crystal woke up from her sleep and opened her eyes. She looked over to her right, expecting Gold to be looking at her from the corner of the room. But to her surprise, he wasn't there. His seat was empty… Crystal forced herself to sit up and quickly looked around the room. She couldn't find Gold anywhere, but there was something on the table next to her bed. It appeared to be an envelope… Suppressing the horrible feeling that was creeping up, Crystal took the envelope, opened it, and started to read the letter inside. Given the messy handwriting, it was clear that Gold was the one who wrote it.

_Crys_

_I'm so sorry for hurting you. You keep saying that it wasn't my fault, but really, it was my fault. You don't want me to risk myself to make things right, and you said that you loved me. But that's exactly why I can't stay with you. I love you too, Crys. I always have. But you and I both know that you deserve someone a lot better. I'm afraid I might hurt you again. I can never forgive myself, and I won't be able to live on knowing I hurt you like this. I can't let it happen again, and I won't let it happen again. Those ShadowNet bastards made me hurt you like this, and I'll make sure they never harm anyone else, ever. I will make amends. Please take good care of yourself._

_Crys, after meeting you, I was able to travel to different places, meet different people, and experience all sorts of things, both good and bad. It's really been fun, and I was really happy. I really enjoyed myself whenever I was with you. Thank you, Crys. And goodbye. _

_From Gold_

Crystal dropped the letter and started to hyperventilate. Her vision seemed to be tunneling from severe panic and shock. That last paragraph… She had heard it from Gold before. Just before he recklessly dived into that temporal void to chase after Pryce. Hearing him say that almost broke her then, and it was about to break her now.

"N – No… no. Gold… Gold!"

Crystal forced herself off of the bed. She grabbed the crutch leaning against the wall with her good arm and began hobbling her way out of the temporary hospital. Before she could reach the exit, she walked into Emerald.

"Crystal? What are you doing out here?" he asked.

"Where… Where's Gold?" Crystal asked. In her panic, she didn't even realize that Emerald was missing one of his (fake) arms. Seeing his darkening expression, she started to panic even more. "Where is he?"

"He… volunteered to singlehandedly hold off all of the ShadowNet forces while everyone else attacked from behind with the Ultimate Moves. There was a large explosion and we haven't been able to contact him afterwards."

"Oh no… no, it can't be…" Crystal muttered in terror. "T – Take me there…"

Emerald quickly fetched a wheelchair and Crystal sat on it without any objection. She knew she couldn't walk all the way towards Gold, because her leg was wobbling too damn much. Emerald discarded his other Magic Hand Extensor and pushed his senior's wheelchair with his real hands. Before long, the two Dex Holders came across Diamond and Platinum, who had finished eating.

"Senior Crystal, are you okay?" Platinum asked as she bowed to her senior.

"N – No," Crystal answered with her good hand pressed firmly against her heart.

"We're going to look for Gold. Can you two come with us?" Emerald asked the two Sinnoh Dex Holders.

"Of course," Diamond said as he got up.

With Diamond pushing Crystal's wheelchair, the four Dex Holders quickly moved forward through the carnage. Crystal kept her good hand over her heart, desperately hoping that Gold was okay.

Half an hour later, the four Dex Holders approached the end of the carnage in Route 1 and soon spotted Gold. Crystal was about to sigh in relief when she realized something and screamed in horror instead. Gold was lying on the ground on his side, with his billiard cue stabbed through his chest. There was a huge pile of dead and unconscious ShadowNet grunts all around him, indicating that in the final moments of the fight, all of the ShadowNet grunts made a mad attempt to force through him before the Ultimate Moves created the explosion. And that explosion had caused Gold's billiard cue to stab into his chest…

Emerald and Platinum quickly knelt beside the fallen Johto Dex Holder. They could see that his eyes were open but blank. Crystal forced herself off of the wheelchair and landed on the ground next to Gold. Her repaired-and-healing leg and shoulder complained quite badly from the impact, but she didn't care. She shook Gold by the shoulder, feeling awfully sick from the small pool of his blood around him.

"Gold? … Gold? Please wake up…" Crystal sobbed out. "Please… you can't leave me…" She desperately shook him but nothing happened. She checked his pulse with trembling fingers and burst into tears when her fingers registered nothing. "Gold… You promised me that you'd stay with me…" she sobbed out as she buried her face into Gold's shoulder. "You promised me… Why did you break your promise, Gold? Why did you leave me? … I love you, and you said you loved me… You can't leave me like this, Gold… You just can't. So please, get up. Say something, please…" Eventually, she couldn't restrain herself and cried. She just let it all out. The feeling she got whenever she looked at him… the terrible feeling, had come true despite her best efforts…

Emerald and Platinum simply stood by as their senior wailed in front of the fallen Dex Holder. Emerald realized that he never saw Crystal cry before. Not like this, at any rate. And he hadn't a clue as to how to cheer her up. Platinum probably knew (it was his belief that all girls knew how to cheer up other girls), but she was busy wiping away her own tears, at the loss of one of her teammates.

Several hours later, the surviving Dex Holders gathered in Professor Oak's lab. After another funeral, everyone seemed to have forgotten the fact that they had just effectively destroyed ShadowNet. Crystal remained seated on her wheelchair, staring through the window at the horizon with a blank look, holding onto Gold's (cleaned) billiard cue close to her heart. Emerald stood beside her, but remained quiet. He had no idea how to cheer her up, or if it even was possible. Perhaps he shouldn't have told her that Gold volunteered to take Green's position in the battle…

Green stood in front of the others and cleared his throat. "I know today's been a rough day," he started slowly. "We lost three of our friends. But it would be daft to stop now. We have to finish what we started. Now, the ShadowNet boss killed White and escaped. And just a few minutes ago, Lt. Surge told me that there was a speed boat that managed to escape him in Vermillion harbor. Considering that Cynthia hasn't reported that she captured the ShadowNet task force yet, and every other region has no more ShadowNet presence, we have to assume that the boss is heading to Sinnoh. We have to chase him and finish this once and for all. This has become quite personal for some of us. Now I'm going to Sinnoh to end this. I leave it your choice if you want to follow me or not."

"I'll stay here with Yellow and clean up," Red said. "Besides, someone has to stay behind and find a way to reverse that Unown infection, right? We're almost there too."

Black looked over at Green with fierce determination. "I'm going with you. There's no way I'll miss out on a chance of avenge Miss President."

Platinum glanced at Diamond and Pearl before she rose to her feet. "We will go as well. This is our fight, and we shall see it finished. Especially if it is in our home region."

"Silver, what about you?" Green asked.

The Johto Dex Holder nodded. "I'm in."

While the others prepared to leave, Green approached Crystal, who hasn't moved at all from her previous position. Even though she felt her senior's presence, she didn't acknowledge him at all.

"Crystal," Green said quietly. "… I'm sorry for what happened. I shouldn't have let Gold take my place."

Crystal let out a shuddering sigh and turned to look at her senior. He could see the tears falling from her eyes and put a hand on her shoulder. He looked into her watery eyes and saw hints of resentment along with understanding and acceptance.

"… Can I really blame you for what happened?" she muttered quietly. "… It was his decision. He chose to take your place because he was still sorry for what he did to me. If I have to hate anyone, it's myself for trusting that he wouldn't do anything dangerous. I should've known that it was impossible for me to alleviate his guilt… And I have to blame Gold for leaving me like this…"

"Is there anything you want me to do to the ShadowNet boss?"

Crystal shook her head and looked through the window again. "I don't know anymore…"

Green patted her on the shoulder one more time before he left the lab. Crystal slowly looked down at Gold's billiard cue and started to cry again. Emerald watched her for a couple of seconds before he left. There was nothing he could do about this…

…

Meanwhile…

…

D: Sir, we're all that's left.

L: Thanks for the news flash. But at least they're down one Dex Holder. I made sure of that.

D: So… what now, sir?

L: We still have a small task force in Sinnoh. It's just enough to take over the Canalave City Library. We take it over, and we hide there until things calm down. So give the orders. We'll hide there and think of a way to rebuild.

D: Yes sir.

* * *

><p><strong>I had to skip quite a bit of stuff (such as the funeral proceedings), but look at that. Still freaking long. I would've called this chapter "Long Night of Death". A slight deviation from the title scheme that explains more or less everything about this chapter. Get it? It's a <strong>_**long**_** chapter filled with deaths, that'll probably be read at night, that's close to Long Night of Sol… … never mind. Damn, that was terrible…**

**So, how's the Valentine's Day gift? Terrible, right? The most pairing heavy chapter in all of SA… and that was because of the tragedies. Well, the evilness I've been saving has been used up in this chapter, so no more evilness in SA for a little while.**

**Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: Blue, Gold, White.**

**And we have our first casualty! … And the second! … And the third… Let me just say, Triple Kill! … Sorry, that was cruel. 3 Dex Holders are dead. Will there be any more fatalities? But Blue's death was already foretold, so you knew that at least one Dex Holder was going to die. But I guess killing 20% in one chapter was a bit too much?**

**This chapter is the result of me trying to prove that Dex Holders WILL die in SA. So far, there were **_**many**_** instances where a Dex Holder was presumed dead. But everyone survived. I pulled off a similar 'stunt' in the previous SA chapter (non intermission) with Blue. But in a way to deviate from the same pattern, Blue is revealed to be dead. And Gold and White too. Gold was supposed to die here, but not White, as her fate is not included anywhere in the SA plans. So her death was an accident. Whoops. My bad.**

… **Okay, I lied. White's death was not an accident. It was intentional. I 'practiced' it in SR's Containment series by killing her first. And I gave the clue in SA #026 and #027 by having White's heart be erratic at times, just like in SR #016 before her horrible, horrible death.**

**So, how many of you cried? Ah, it doesn't matter. But here is a miniature review-poll like the ones from SL. It's related to the ShadowNet boss and I haven't decided his fate yet. Show mercy and spare him, or kill him as revenge (and maybe even hang him up by his entrails)?**


	32. The Library

**Note: S-EARL's Age Relations (Edition III) is confirmed to be inaccurate. However, S-EARL will continue using it due to their progress. SY and onwards will use the 4-Generations-accurate Edition IV.**

'**Vote' results: everyone who 'voted' demanded revenge and death for the ShadowNet boss, ranging from plain death without being hanged by the entrails to an endless cycle of death. So, the logical decision is to… spare him, of course! … Nah, I'm just kidding. He's f*cked.**

**Quite the result last chapter. Variety of reactions to the three deaths. On average: "Aww" for Blue, "Meh" for White, and "The F*CK?!" for Gold. SA #028: Final Run has reached the new record in all of S-EARLY as the most reviewed chapter. Total of 56 currently, 8x as much as the least for SA (right before cancellation alert).**

**Oh yeah. Something came up that I feel I need to specify, just as an alert. Nothing else intended. Something minor. If any of the faithful reviewers get revoked after using the benefit questions and does not fix that revoked issue, I will change SA so that the benefit questions related spoilers are not going to occur. It prevents those from taking advantage of the system. Most of the time, anyways. Besides, the whole point of the benefit things was to keep the faithful reviewers… **_**faithful**_**. If anyone becomes faithful, uses up all three questions, and disappears, then I really don't have any obligation to keep my word for them. Of course, I understand for extenuating circumstances, but not if that reviewer appears for the other stories of S-EARLY but not SA.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 29: The Library<p>

August 18, 8 pm, Canalave City, Sinnoh…

The group of Dex Holders exited the Canalave City harbor. Thanks to the speed boat provided by Lt. Surge, they managed to travel from Kanto to Johto within a single day as opposed to taking two full days. Just outside the harbor, the Dex Holders ran into Cynthia, who had been waiting for them.

"Ah, Miss Cynthia!" Platinum exclaimed as she ran towards the Sinnoh champion.

Cynthia gave her a friendly wave as she approached the heiress. She looked at the gathered Dex Holders and examined the looks on their faces. "I heard from Professor Oak about what happened in Kanto. I'm so sorry for your losses."

Some of the Dex Holders clenched their teeth and looked away. Green let out a short sigh. "That's why we're here. We need to end this. Do you know where the ShadowNet boss went?"

"So far, all the Sinnoh cities reported no one suspicious anywhere. Except here. Byron told me that a strange ship was docked near the harbor and no one was on it. He got people to patrol around the borders of the city, and so far, nothing happened. I believe the remainder of ShadowNet is still in this city somewhere."

"Would you have any thoughts as to where they may be hiding?" Platinum asked.

"Yes. Considering the proximity to the harbor and the size, I would say the Canalave library is the prime candidate for ShadowNet's hiding place. The library is the largest building there is in Canalave and given its age, there are bounds to be unexplored rooms in the basement. Though the uppermost floor is owned by Byron, he's mostly at the Gym or digging some hole behind it. No one would suspect the library, which makes it the ideal hiding place."

"We'll check it out," Green said.

Cynthia nodded. "Good luck to you. I'll make sure nothing leaves this city."

The Dex Holders soon parted with Cynthia and headed towards the Canalave library.

"This is it," Platinum said a few minutes later. The library seemed awfully quiet from the outside. … It was supposed to be quiet to start with, since it was a _library_, but it seemed unnaturally quiet, as if no one was inside. Then again, it was past closing time. But the lights were on here and there. "I believe Miss Cynthia is correct. I have been to this library many times and I am aware that several sections have restricted access. It seems likely that ShadowNet will be hiding in there."

"We're going in," Green said. "Platinum, you're our guide. You know this place better than anyone else."

The heiress nodded. "Of course senior."

…

Two hours later, Pallet Town, Kanto, 10 pm…

…

Red approached the gathered remaining Dex Holders in the main room of Professor Oak's lab after checking in with the scientists and researchers who were working for the cure of the Unown virus. Currently, Crystal was staring through the windows, keeping her eyes glued firmly on the darkening sky. Emerald remained standing perfectly still beside her, ready to assist in any way whatsoever. Yellow sat beside Sapphire on the couch, trying to convince the Hoenn Dex Holder to go rest on a bed. Ruby sat by her as well, but Sapphire seemed determined to stay with the others in case they had a mission that she was forced to sit out.

But it was nighttime. Even the uninjured Dex Holders were getting tired. As the oldest Dex Holder around, Red decided it was time to start giving out the orders.

"Everyone, listen up," the Kanto champion said after clearing his throat a few times. Everyone except Crystal turned to look at him. "It's starting to get late. We never know if there might be anything urgent we'll have to take care of tomorrow, so I want all of you to get a nice long sleep."

Sapphire tried to object. "But… I've been in bed all day long!"

"Sapphire, I want you to join me in any upcoming battles. But to do that, you need to fully recover. And constantly forcing your way out of the bed isn't going to help. If anything, you might make things worse. So go back to the hospital bed and focus on recovering."

Sapphire let out a short sigh. "… Fine."

Ruby rose to his feet and held the girl's hand. "Alright, come on. I'll lead you back to your hospital bed."

"Wait," Red quickly called. '_There's something I need to… test._' "Sapphire, I'll take you there. I need to talk to you about something."

Ruby let go of Sapphire's hand and took a step backwards as Red walked closer. Sapphire took a deep breath and forced herself off the couch. She managed to stand upright but looked a bit unsteady. When Red came close, she forced a smile as she looked at him and proceeded to walk towards the lab's exit. Red followed her for a few seconds. Noticing his full attention, Sapphire forced herself to remain strong and steady. But with little success.

Red took the opportunity to carefully lift the girl onto his arms. Sapphire offered little resistance before calming down with an extremely embarrassed look on her face. As the Kanto champion made his way towards the Hoenn Pokémon Association blimp, Sapphire slowly closed her eyes and rested her head against her role model's arm.

"Wow…" the girl mumbled. "This feels… nice. Really nice…"

Red smirked. '_And that's 6 out of 6!_' "You think so too, huh?"

"Yeah… Why can't Ruby carry me like this? Oh well." The girl let out a content sigh. "So this is how you carried rookie, huh?"

"All the girls, actually," Red answered. "Blue, Yellow, Crys, you, Platinum, and White. Everyone says this is comfortable."

"It is. It really is." Sapphire opened her eyes and looked into Red's. "I'm sorry about what happened to Blue and Gold. I can't imagine what losing such close friends would be like."

Red slowly nodded with a grim expression. "I know. I just wish I could've done something about it. But we can't dwell on the past. We have to keep pushing forward." He looked down at her and gave her a warm smile. "Take care of yourself, kid. I don't want to lose any more friends, alright? And that's an order."

Sapphire nodded. "Okay. … Thanks, Red."

A few minutes later, Red finished putting Sapphire onto her bed and had returned back to the lab. Inside, he could see Ruby, Yellow, and Emerald all trying to convince Crystal to go to sleep. The Johto Dex Holder appeared as if she was completely unaware of their presence and continued to stare blankly through the windows. Again, Red viewed this problem as his duty to fix.

Red signaled the other Dex Holders to go as he approached Crystal. While Ruby and Yellow cast one last worried glance at Crystal before leaving, Emerald remained, not willing to leave his senior quite yet. But Red kept signaling him to leave.

Emerald looked over at Crystal. She still hadn't moved an inch. He had tried so hard to cheer her up for the entire day, but with no avail. He looked up at Red. Maybe the Kanto champion knew what he was doing. Maybe not. But it was worth a shot. Emerald cast another glace at Crystal before he hesitantly left, sincerely hoping that Red would find a way to cheer up Crystal.

Once he was left all alone with Crystal, Red gently pushed the girl's wheelchair towards the exit. The girl still didn't move an inch, as if she was completely paralyzed. Within a minute, Red arrived at his house and pushed Crystal's wheelchair inside. He parked it right in front of his couch and the sat down on the couch so that he could see Crystal at eye level.

"Crys," he started. Crystal blinked a few times before she slowly tilted her head slightly to face her senior. "I'm not going to pretend to know what you're going through. I can't imagine the pain you're experiencing. But listen. Whatever you're feeling, Green is feeling worse. You've known Gold for around 6 years now. But Green knew Blue for 10 years. If anything, his bond with her is stronger than yours with Gold. And I've known Green long enough to notice when he's acting particularly strange. Right now, he's not normal. You've probably noticed it too, since you're a lot smarter than me. He's taking Blue's death hard, but he's forcing himself to move on. You should too."

Crystal looked away from her senior's eyes. He was right. Green was experiencing a much bigger loss than she was. Yet, the Gym Leader wasn't dwelling on it like she was.

Red cleared his throat as he prepared to deliver his more… impactful words. "Crys, I never thought I'd say this to you, but I'm disappointed in you." As expected, Crystal quickly turned to look at him. "Do you know how _selfish_ you've been for the past few days? You're not the only one who lost someone very close to you. But you're the only one acting like this. Yellow and I lost a very close friend. Hell, I lost two. But you don't see us moping about it all day long. Not to mention, you've been neglecting all of your juniors. Have you seen Emerald? He's been standing beside you all day long, trying to cheer you up but you've been ignoring him. Think about Green and how he's been doing too. If he sees you constantly moping around like this, he'll just be reminded again and again of Blue's death. You won't be helping him at all. Right now, you're not doing anything remotely helpful to anyone. And that's really disappointing. Act your age, Crys. You're not the youngest Dex Holder anymore. You're-"

Crystal quickly put up her good hand in front of Red to stop him. "… Please stop…" she whispered out. She kept her eyes on the floor and appeared extremely ashamed. "… You're right. I'm not the only one who lost a loved one… The way I've been acting… it's shameful and embarrassing." She forced herself to look into her senior's eyes. "I'm sorry Red. And thank you. I'll apologize to everyone in the morning. Gold's… death… still hurts too much, but for the sake of everyone else, I'll try my best to get over it."

Red smiled and put a hand on his junior's uninjured shoulder. "That's the idea. I knew you'd pull through." He got to his feet and took a quick glance around. "Well then, you should get some sleep. And the only comfortable place is my bed, so you're going to be sleeping there while I sleep on this couch."

"No, that won't be necessary," Crystal said. "I can sleep wherever, really."

"Crys, you need to sleep properly and comfortably if you're going to recover. Now come on." Red gently put an arm around Crystal's back and the other under her legs. Slowly and gently, he lifted her out of the wheelchair and onto his arms. The girl winced a little during the process. "Just like last time, if you remember it through the painkiller-spores."

Crystal cracked a smile for the first time in two days and nodded. "I remember it. And it's still just as comfortable."

Red proceeded to head upstairs to his room. "Sapphire said that too. And Platinum." '_And White._'

"You really are good at this," Crystal said. "I don't know why, but you are."

Red let out a short laugh. "Hey, do you think I should start charging you girls for this? Fixed cost of 200 PKD per trip with an additional 200 PKD per minute. What do you think?"

The Johto Dex Holder maintained her smile but slowly shook her head. "That would be very, very cruel. This is very nice. Don't change it by charging us!"

"I know, I know. Hey, if we had yet another set of juniors, do you think the girl in that group would say this is comfortable too?"

"I don't see why not. If both Sapphire and Platinum said this is comfortable, then you've covered both extremes of the sensitivity spectrum. Platinum, as pampered as she is, said this is comfortable. And Sapphire, as tough and rough as she is, said the same thing. Unless this possible new girl is beyond those two, which I can't imagine, she's going to like this. You'll be popular with her too."

"Well, it's better to be liked than not-liked."

Having arrived in his room, Red gently set Crystal down onto his bed. Once he was sure that his junior was comfortable, he proceeded to leave the room.

"Red," Crystal called just as her senior opened the door.

"Hm?"

"… Thank you. For talking to me and… getting me to think straight."

"You're welcome. And it's no problem, really." Red smiled as he turned to look at Crystal. "So, how is this for senior-ing?"

"Huh?"

"You know, parenting, but from senior to a junior."

"You mean looking after your juniors?" Crystal asked with a smile. "You're doing really great. I'm honestly surprised that you have this kind of soft, caring side. Normally, you're just so carefree. Did Yellow tell you to say those things?"

Red shook his head. "No. It was all me for once. I guess talking to Platinum really made me understand the responsibilities of being a senior."

Crystal nodded. "I understand what you mean. Keep it up, Red. You're really helpful."

"I sure will." Red turned off the lights and left the room. "Call for me if you need anything," he said as he closed the door.

…

Meanwhile, Canalave City, Sinnoh…

…

"Senior, I think I found something," Platinum whispered through her headset. "Please come to the southwestern corner of the 7th floor."

Within a few minutes, all the Dex Holders in the expedition had gathered in the 7th floor of the Canalave library. Platinum pointed at a door and signaled everyone to remain quiet.

"What did you find?" Green asked quietly.

"Movement," the heiress replied. "The library is closed. No one should be here at all. But I can hear talking and movement behind that door. From what I can hear, I do not think they are janitors or librarians who are simply staying past closing hours."

"Great work," the Gym Leader said. "Diamond, get ready to open the door. Everyone else, we're going in."

The relaxed Dex Holder prepared to open the door while everyone else got ready to charge in. But the door was locked.

"Silver, break the door open," Green ordered. "Even if this is just a bunch of janitors and librarians, we'll act first then explain ourselves."

The Johto Dex Holder stepped in front of the door and delivered a swift kick which broke the door wide open. He could've picked the lock, but he was in no mood to do such. The moment the door opened, the Sinnoh Dex Holders ran into the room and everyone else followed. As expected, the handful of people gathered inside the room were all wearing ShadowNet uniforms. One of them appeared awfully surprised to see Platinum.

"You…" he muttered as he pointed at the girl. "You're supposed to be dead! You were supposed to have killed yourself! I made sure of it! Why are you still alive?!"

Platinum started to tremble in anger. "So… it was you… You were the one who mimicked my father to say those things to me…"

The heiress took a step forward as if she wanted to beat the crap out of the ShadowNet task force leader by herself. Diamond quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"It's okay, Lady. You don't have to fight this all on your own."

Green and Silver stepped in front of their juniors and charged at the ShadowNet group. And within a couple of minutes, the two Dex Holders had managed to knock out every single one of the grunts, except one. By the difference in the uniform, it was clear that this ShadowNet member was an executive. Maybe the second-in-command.

Platinum didn't really care about that one. Not yet, anyways. She kept her eyes on the ShadowNet task force leader who was struggling to stay conscious on the floor in front of her. She felt a bit of sympathy watching the man writhe from a broken nose and jaw, but thinking about all the misery she went through was more than enough to delete the sense of sympathy. With her hands clenched into fists, she delivered a kick right to the man's mouth, knocking him out in a small burst of blood and teeth. The heiress had kicked him so hard that she had put a slight dent in her RLS system's shielding. She then kicked him in the face again, just for good measure.

"Revenge… served," she muttered coldly as she observed the blood on her boot. After a few seconds, she turned her attention to the ShadowNet executive with a nonchalant expression, as if the ShadowNet task force leader didn't exist entirely.

"Alright you," Black growled as he grabbed the ShadowNet executive. "Where's your boss?! He's going to pay for the death of Miss President!"

"Who?" the executive asked.

"The girl your bastard boss killed!" Black roared.

"You're going to have to be a _little_ more specific than that," the ShadowNet executive muttered.

"Blue eyes, long brown hair," Pearl said from behind.

The executive thought for a second. "Again, you'll have to be a bit more specific."

"Just tell us where your boss is, you f*cking simpleton!" Platinum yelled.

"Hey! The boss may keep calling me a moron, but that doesn't mean I have to take that from you!" The executive crossed his arms and looked away. "Besides, I'm loyal. You'll get no information from me."

"You're making this a lot more difficult than it has to," Green said. "Give us some intelligence or you'll be sent to a hospital _full_ of guys just like you."

"I don't have any intelligence!"

"Hey, you just called yourself stupid," Pearl said.

The ShadowNet executive glared at him. "I am not stupid! I'm loyal!"

Silver shook his head. "This is going nowhere." He sent out his Weavile, which promptly jumped on the back of the ShadowNet executive, with its claw wrapped around his neck. "They may not do anything drastic, but I'm the guy who's going to cut off your head if you don't tell us what we want."

"I'm not afraid of you!" the executive yelled defiantly. The Weavile gave a slight squeeze to the neck. "… Okay! I'm afraid! I am!"

"Start talking. Where's your boss?"

"Basement," the executive answered. "There's a restricted room in the third hall to the right of the staircase. That room leads to another level below the library. Our boss is staying there, thinking of ways to resurrect ShadowNet."

"We'll stop him," Green said. He then aimed a punch at the executive.

"Senior, wait!" Platinum said from behind. "Perhaps it would be beneficial if we left him unscathed so that he is more willing to respond to interrogation."

Green stared at the heiress for a few seconds before he lowered his fist. "Fine. We'll leave this one unharmed."

30 minutes later, all the ShadowNet members were tied up and delivered to Cynthia and Byron, who were waiting outside the library. The ShadowNet members would now face wave after wave of probably painful interrogation and most likely jail time, if not worse. Afterwards, all the Dex Holders headed towards the basement. They soon found the restricted room in the hall specified by the executive. Upon opening the door, they found a large hole in the wall leading to a small room with a massive hole on the floor, along with a ladder that reached down to the bottom of the hole.

"Senior Green," Platinum suddenly called.

"Hm?"

"Diamond, Pearl, and I shall remain out here," the heiress declared. "We will guard the entrance in case there are any ShadowNet stragglers hidden around the library."

"Are you sure?" Green asked. Platinum nodded. "Very well then. Is there anything you want me to do to the ShadowNet boss?"

Platinum shook her head. "No, senior. That is not a decision I can make. Other than Diamond and Pearl, everyone else is here for revenge. I have had my revenge already, therefore I do not have the right to stop anyone else. However, I would appreciate it if you would leave your headsets on. I would like to hear what the ShadowNet boss has to say."

"Fair enough."

Green, Silver, and Black proceeded to climb down the ladder while the Sinnoh Dex Holders watched them. Once they were completely alone, the Sinnoh Dex Holders looked at each other. Pearl took advantage of the opportunity.

"Alright then, I'll guard the halls outside. You two stay in this room and wait for the others."

And before Platinum could say anything, he left the room and shut the door, leaving the heiress all alone with Diamond.

Diamond took off his vest and set it on the dust covered floor. Once he spread out his vest, he sat down on one half, leaving the other half for Platinum. The girl watched him before she understood his intentions. She carefully sat beside him and pulled her knees closer to her chest.

"Lady, are you okay?" Diamond asked.

Platinum turned to look at him. She could just barely see his face, due to the weak light in the restricted room. She slowly nodded. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

"What you did to that ShadowNet guy before," the boy started. "You sounded so cold and angry. And the way you kicked him. You didn't look like yourself, and I'm worried about you."

The heiress smiled. "I appreciate your concern. But that was something I had to do. He made me feel so disgraced, I tried to kill myself. If I had succeeded in that attempt, I would have been even more disgraced since that was what ShadowNet intended. I could not let him go unpunished for that offense."

"As long as you're okay, I'm happy," Diamond said. He hesitantly put an arm around the girl's shoulders and held his breath for her response. To his great relief, Platinum relaxed under his embrace and rested her head against his shoulder. '_Maybe I should make my third attempt now? … No. This is hardly the right time or place. But one day…_'

Meanwhile, Green, Silver, and Black continued to climb down the ladder until they hit the bottom. The ladder led to a large tunnel of some sort, illuminated by small light bulbs here and there. The tunnel was in a straight line with no branching paths, so it was clear that the ShadowNet boss was hiding behind the door that was visible down the far end.

Within a minute, the three Dex Holders reached the door and kicked it open, revealing a small, brightly illuminated room. And the ShadowNet boss was sitting on a chair in front of a desk, with his head turned to face the door.

"Ah, so you found me at last," the boss spat out as he slowly stood up. "I knew that spineless idiot would give up my location."

"You," Green growled out. "You're the ShadowNet commander. You're the start of all this."

"And this ends now!" Silver yelled in anger. He charged straight towards the ShadowNet boss.

"You idiots!" the ShadowNet boss yelled as the charging Dex Holders. Silver stopped in his tracks. "You idiots really think that destroying my ShadowNet is the end? Do you really think that we're the only ones trying to take over the world? You naïve fools. You're all going to join your lost friends sooner than I expected."

"What are you talking about?" Silver demanded.

"On several occasions, I noticed that our research data and tech supplies have been disappearing here and there. I thought this was just you pesky Dex Holders stealing them. But I realized that it wasn't you idiots. It was someone else. Someone far more competent that us. We were guided to do that person's bidding without even knowing it. Our project that affected some of you is not our doing. Our project is flawed. With our HQ destroyed, by now, every Unown should be rampaging. Yet, they're not. They're calm. Waiting for something. And it's not our command. And you really thought my ShadowNet was the end. Ha! We are nothing compared to what'll strike you next. And three of you didn't even survive the ShadowNet attacks." The boss smirked as he looked over at Black. "I had the _pleasure_ of killing your girlfriend personally."

Black clenched his hands into fists. "Why you…"

"Oh, you should've seen her," the ShadowNet boss taunted. "Crying like a bitch, just _begging_ me not to kill her. It was pathetic!"

Black knew this wasn't true. He heard White's battle against the ShadowNet boss, and he was with her while she died. She said no such things. But still, the ShadowNet boss was seriously pissing him off. So much that his vision blurred from pure rage.

The ShadowNet boss turned his attention to Silver and Green. "And I can see that the bitch Blue had finally died. After all those years. Escaping kidnapping, fighting for her parents, and all that. For what? Her parents are burnt to crisp, and she's dead too. Ha!"

Green was about to let Silver and Black tear the ShadowNet commander apart when Platinum's voice came from his headset.

"Senior Green, I believe that he is saying all these things just so that you may kill him quickly. It is possible that he is hiding something. It would not be late to have your revenge after you find out what it is."

Green sent out his Scizor, which immediately clamped one of its claws over the ShadowNet commander's neck. It then lifted him up above the floor and held him in the air.

"You two," Green said to Silver and Black. "Step back. He's mine."

"The hell he is!" Black yelled. "_We_ won't kill him, but you better once we're done!" He then sent out his Emboar. "Heat Crash! Crush that son of a bitch!"

Green's Scizor released the ShadowNet commander and jumped out of the way. Black's Emboar jumped into the air and fell onto the commander, crushing his lower half in a fiery impact.

Silver sent out his Weavile right afterwards. Upon orders from its trainer, it dashed towards the ShadowNet boss and stabbed massive shards of ice all over the commander's arms and body, but so that he wouldn't die.

"You two, leave," Green ordered. "I'll finish him off on my own."

Green's Scizor clamped its pincer around the ShadowNet boss's neck and lifted him off the ground again. Silver and Black reluctantly returned their Pokémon. And after casting another set of deadly glares at the ShadowNet boss, the two Dex Holders left the room and shut the door behind them.

Green approached the half-dead ShadowNet commander. "Why did you have to kill White? Blue and Gold were not directly involved with you when they died, but you killed White yourself. Why?"

"Because it's in our best interest to kill off as many Dex Holders as possible," the commander managed to reply. "Besides, you've thoroughly beaten us. Why wouldn't we want revenge? You have another crisis coming up and you'll need everyone you can get. And we did our best by killing three of you." The commander started to laugh despite the pain all over his body. He glared at Green and smirked. "I wonder how many of you will fall this time. Maybe you'll be able to join your bitch girlfriend."

Green's eyes twitched. He tapped his Scizor by the shoulder, signaling it to release the ShadowNet commander. He then simply turned away and headed towards the door. His Scizor looked back and forth between its trainer and the ShadowNet boss, wondering if it should just leave the enemy alive like this.

Just before Green's hand touched the door knob, he gave a command. "… Bullet Punch."

…

/ / FRAGMENT 6/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED PRE-CATACLYSM]

J: There goes ShadowNet. They lasted long enough. Now it's our turn.

S: No. It's not.

J: What?

S: It's _my_ turn.

J: What are you… Argh! Y – You… dirty… bitch…

S: The path of domination is a path for one. And it waits for no one, Jagura. Not even you.

J: … I should've known…

S: Yes, you should. But rest assured that your work and accomplishments won't go unnoticed. I will head for Mt. Coronet now. Be proud that you helped in changing the future of the world.

/ / FRAGMENT ENDS

* * *

><p><strong>Current Dex Holder KIAMIA list: Blue, Gold, White.**

**Like I said in the early days of SA, I will be going with Coronis' naming scheme. So Jagura is that little guy in the Rocket Beast Trio who attempted an uprising in FRLG and HGSS… and got his ass kicked both times.**

**The ShadowNet boss's actual purpose has been edited from the original SA plans to match the HGSS arc. And as such, the reason for his hatred towards Blue (as seen in SA #016: Two Betrayals) is lost. Oh yeah. And as it turned out, no one attacked the ShadowNet boss for Gold. Ha. Unintentional, really.**

**For those who are still… upset with the fact that 3 Dex Holders are dead, go read SR's Containment series. There's a reason why I posted that before SA progressed this far.**

**And for those who demand revenge, here's the WCHB featuring the full extent of the ShadowNet boss's fate. There have been many suggestions, and I took the most hilarious one (by my perspective), and modified it very slightly for more referencing. It's highly impractical though, and you'll see why.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Unknown Team Rocket facility, unknown location…

The ShadowNet boss opened his eyes and looked around. How very odd… he thought he died… He was sure he died in the hands of pissed off Dex Holders.

How long was he unconscious? Strangely, he knew the answer. Exactly 31622.77 seconds. Huh… how did he know that? How was he so accurate? He noticed that he could also measure distances accurately just by looking. The large hemispherical room he was in was an exact hemisphere with a radius of 173.205 meters. And he was tied up onto a large metallic pole (of radius 14.14 centimeters) in the center.

He looked down. He could see his feet, but oddly… mutated. His right foot had no toes, and instead, just had molten biomatter. He looked at his other limbs and noticed they weren't all that different. For starters, there was no right arm.

"What… happened?"

"You are in a Team Rocket research facility," came a voice from a speaker 2.23 meters above the floor.

"I thought I was dead," the ShadowNet boss muttered.

"You are. Your original body is being used for human cloning experiments," the voice answered. "You are currently in one of the cloned bodies. Just like our attempts at cloning Mew, it didn't work properly. But unlike Mew, whose psychic powers amplified during cloning, your body shows no benefits from the cloning process."

"I think not," the ShadowNet boss said. "I can think faster and more efficiently than ever. The cloning clearly did something to me."

"That has nothing to do with the cloning," the voice said. "You can think faster and measure accurately because your mind is now a machine. In fact, you are now an artificial intelligence trapped in a clone body."

"What?"

"That is the result of our newest toy, The Composer. It turns any living being into pure computer data. The Dex Holders didn't kill you. They left you out to die and we brought you here, and we composed you just in time. Your personality data has been simply… transferred to a clone body."

"… Why?"

"So we can perfect human cloning if it's possible, and… see what The Composer does exactly. It's a great piece of tech, that's for sure. Lots of weird stuff happening that we can learn from. Anyways, prepare to be composed again."

The ShadowNet boss looked up just in time to see a brilliant orange light pounding down on him. Instantly, he felt his skin burn off as it was turned from organic matter to raw data. Immediately afterwards, his muscle layer went as well. Then his organs went, followed by his bones, leaving nothing but ragged clothing.

And just like the Rocket voice said, he woke up inside another clone body that had taken the place of the previous body. And this one lacked a left leg. His body ached from the result of being composed, but he knew that it was just his memories that retained the experience. The composing lasted 1.35 seconds, but it sure felt a hell of a lot longer than that. And it hurt like a motherf-

"That never gets old," the Rocket voice muttered.

"Sooner or later, you're going to run out of power!" the ShadowNet boss yelled.

"That's the beauty of this thing!" came the Rocket voice. "This thing powers itself! We don't know how, but it does! So don't worry about running out of power. This whole facility is actually powered by this thing! And that's another thing we're trying to learn! So quit your yapping and prepare to be composed again and again!"

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, The Composer doesn't really work like this, but oh well. And it's MASSIVE. It's probably around 14 the size of the moon. Originally designed to turn sentient life into computer data and reverting that data into biological form again (thereby bridge the digital realm and biological form), it didn't work as planned and attempts to revert to the original form created abominations. Abominations, but still machine. It basically steals memories and harvests bodies. The bodies turn into non-biological physical nightmares (pun, for those who get the reference), and the stolen memories are compiled into artificial intelligence (AI) and are put into the bodies. It can compose an entire planet's worth of inhabitants as fast as it can be moved around the planet.**

… **Hence, really impractical for SA use, and thus only in the WCHB. And just like SR's Containment series, going into more detail leads to another game universe (see below for a little more detail).**

* * *

><p>Alternate line in WCHB:<p>

"Where did this thing come from?" the ShadowNet boss demanded.

"We got this from a giant ring. It took us… a long ass time to get it here. And if the original owners of this thing found out, they're going to be pissed off. But oh well. I'm sure they're all dead, because this thing hasn't been touched in 100 000 years, according to its records. What are they going to do? Suddenly return out of nowhere, reclaim this thing and compose us? Anyways, prepare to be composed."

* * *

><p><strong>If you got the reference, that alternate line is quite the foreshadowing. Hence, the in-game line: <strong>_**"The device you recovered was a Forerunner weapon. The commander of that ship wants it back."**_


	33. Wait, It Gets Worse

**In order to avoid receiving comments/messages that point out something that I already covered a long, LONG time ago, I have compiled all the covered information and posted it on my profile. This message will appear in the beginning of the updates of all of S-EARLY.**

**Alert: SA's Age Relations has updated to Edition III.5. Once again, ignore any and all inconsistencies this creates.**

**And no, the main characters of the BW2 Special arc will not be appearing. If I chose to bring them in, Rakutsu and Faitsu will only enter the scene just to die a short while later. Like White.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 30: Wait, It Gets Worse<p>

August 19, 7 am, Pallet Town, Kanto…

Yellow pulled her hand back and closed her eyes. The Pokémon in front of her, Gold's Typhlosion, looked down at the floor sadly. The Kanto Dex Holder let out a short sigh and patted the Volcano Pokémon on the head. She had finished accessing its memories to see if she could get additional insight on Gold's sacrifice. As it turned out, Gold had returned Typhlosion immediately after it had used Blast Burn. It tried to fight its way out of the Pokéball, but Gold had ordered it to stay safe so that it could protect Crystal in his place.

Yellow didn't know what to do with this piece of information. If she told Crystal… the Johto Dex Holder would most likely cry again. But if Yellow chose to not tell her, Gold's intentions would be lost. Maybe Red could help. He did talk to Crystal last night and supposedly calmed her down. Which was _really_ surprising. So maybe he could tell her Gold's intentions with his Typhlosion without her crying.

But that'll have to wait until Red and Crystal woke up and returned to the lab. And given the current time, Crystal _might_ be awake (normally, she'd be up by 6, but with her injuries, she may wake up later), and Red… would still be in deep sleep.

Yellow glanced around the room. No one else was there. Well, no one awake. Emerald was sleeping in the corner and apart from him, no Dex Holder was present. Out of the 15 Dex Holders, 3 were unfortunately dead. Out of the remaining 12, 6 had gone to Sinnoh to finish ShadowNet. And of the remaining 5 (apart from herself), Red and Crystal were not in the lab, Ruby and Sapphire were in the makeshift hospital, which only left Emerald in the lab.

So in short, Yellow felt quite lonely. Damn. Oh well, at least she had Gold's Pokémon in front of her… all looking terribly sad. Damn. Well, she might as well comfort them…

But before Yellow could really do anything, she heard someone screaming from the basement. Thanks to the series of shut doors, the scream wasn't that loud, but she could still hear it. She quickly returned Gold's Pokémon back to their Pokéballs and ran downstairs, where the Unown-infected girl and her brother were staying.

By the time Yellow got down to the basement, she could see the guest trainer's 6 Dragon Pokémon circling around the "research cage" where the infected girl had to stay. And the girl was currently thrashing around while screaming, occasionally slamming her fists and her head into the durable protective glass.

There was materialized psychic energy of Unown sprouting and dissipating all over the girl's body. And immediately, Yellow could sense the Unown's pain. It was still being controlled, somehow, by someone. And it was being forced to eject itself from its host's body. Given how long the Unown was in there, the 'eviction' proceeding was painful for both parties.

But eventually, the Unown was forced out of the girl's body. The girl immediately collapsed onto the floor, unconscious, while the Unown remained thrashing about. It then tore a small hole in the air and escaped to the dimension in which all Unown usually stay.

Yellow blinked a few times to understand what just happened. So something that was controlling all the Unown had recalled them all back to whatever dimension. That meant _every_ Unown infected people were going through the same thing.

'_Oh, no…_' Yellow quickly ran up the stairs and exited the lab. She ran as fast as she could manage towards the Hoenn Pokémon Association blimp. '_Ruby…_'

…

Sapphire snapped awake when she heard someone screaming from the waiting room in the makeshift hospital. She soon realized that it was Ruby screaming and hastily forced her body off of the bed. She could barely walk, but it didn't matter. This was a serious matter. This wasn't a 'girly' scream as if he fell into a puddle of mud. This was a seriously pained scream.

Sapphire clenched her teeth and hobbled her way towards the waiting room. The moment she pushed the door open, she spotted Ruby thrashing around in agony, slamming his head and arms into the walls.

"Ruby! What's wrong?!" Sapphire asked as she approached him.

Ruby didn't answer. She doubted that he could answer. He kept thrashing around, and she decided that the top priority was to get him to stop. She heard from Crystal that Gold had temporarily stopped thrashing during his Unown infection when she spoke to him. So maybe Ruby would calm down a little if he realized that she was there right now.

Sapphire hobbled closer to him and grabbed his wrists. "Ruby, calm down!"

There didn't seem to be any effect. And for the first time in their history, he managed to overpower her and break free of her grasp. Sapphire clenched her teeth and attempted to try again. But before she could, Ruby accidentally slammed his elbow into her chest while thrashing, where she had been impaled by the Spike Cannon shot once before. She felt something break inside and immediately lost the ability to breathe. While Ruby continued to thrash about, she lost all of her strength and collapsed onto the ground.

After a few more seconds, the Unown within Ruby finally managed to eject itself from its host body and warped away into its dimension. The moment the Unown left his body, Ruby passed out and collapsed right next to Sapphire, who had already lost consciousness.

Yellow arrived at the scene less than a minute after both Hoenn Dex Holders passed out. She expected Ruby, but not Sapphire, so she quickly checked on her condition first. The girl wasn't breathing, so she quickly called for help before moving to check on Ruby.

…

Meanwhile, on the speedboat that was rapidly heading towards Kanto, Silver was experiencing the same thing as Ruby.

Only the Sinnoh Dex Holders were in the same room at the moment. They glanced at each other in worry, wondering how they would stop him without hurting him. Using Pokémon was out of the question, as the objective was to avoid any and all injuries. But there was one Dex Holder who could get close to the thrashing Silver without getting hit.

"Miss Lady, go grab his arms," Pearl said. "You're the only one who can do this right now without risking injury."

The heiress nodded. After checking her shield state, she approached Silver carefully. While thrashing, the Johto Dex Holder accidentally delivered a backhand strike with his right arm. The attack was stopped by Platinum's RLS system and she quickly took the opportunity to wrap both of her arms around her senior's.

Unfortunately, Platinum was way too light. Well, unfortunate in this case and fortunate in normal cases. Even though she held onto Silver's right arm with all her strength, he still easily lifted her. Realizing that her senior might accidentally use her as a battering ram, Platinum wrapped her legs around Silver's left arm and held on tight, effectively immobilizing both of his arms.

"Senior, please calm down!" Platinum yelled out as she tried her best to hold on.

Pearl watched the heiress attached to and hugging Silver's arms for a while before he turned to look at Diamond. "… This isn't weird at all, huh?"

Diamond shrugged. "Well… this isn't an everyday occurrence, for sure."

Silver slammed his back into the nearest wall, effectively using Platinum to cushion the impact. Again, the girl's RLS system protected her from any harm. Silver slammed her into the wall again and shattered her shields. He proceeded to try again when the Unown finally managed to eject itself.

The Johto Dex Holder passed out immediately after the Unown left his body. Thanks to Platinum attached to his arms behind his back, he toppled backwards. Diamond and Pearl quickly reached forward and grabbed their senior so that he wouldn't fall on top of Platinum.

The heiress released her grip on Silver and landed on her feet. After straightening out her clothes, she helped her two friends in moving the Johto Dex Holder onto a bed.

"Great work, Miss Lady," Pearl said. "Though I think you've been spending too much time with the likes of Sapphire."

"What do you mean?" the heiress asked.

"Well… I expected you to just hold onto Silver's arms," Pearl said. "… Not hold him in a crucifix armbar."

"It is impossible for me to hold onto him with only my arms," Platinum answered. "I still cannot put too much strength into my right hand. But I see your point. Perhaps you are correct. I shall try to spend more time with senior Yellow and senior Crystal so that I may become more like them."

…

4 hours later, 11 am, Pallet Town, Kanto…

…

"… d…"

"…"

"… ed…"

"… …"

"… RED!"

Red snapped awake and quickly opened his eyes. He spotted Crystal sitting on her wheelchair beside the couch he was sleeping on, shaking him by the arm.

"There, now you're awake," she muttered. "Good morning."

"Yeah… morning," Red muttered as he sat up. "… How'd you get down here?"

Crystal smiled. "I can take care of myself, Red. I just had Tupeon carry me here. Your Espeon also helped out. The process would've been easier if you left the wheelchair beside me, but oh well." She suddenly remembered something and her smile immediately faded. "I woke you because something terrible happened."

"Huh? What?"

"Yellow and Platinum called. Apparently, Ruby and Silver had a little rampancy problem while the Unown inside them were ejected. And from what we can tell, during Ruby's rampancy, he accidentally hit Sapphire and shattered her ribs right where she was stabbed earlier. She's going through another set of surgeries and… we're not sure if she'll survive."

"What?! Damn it! Not another friend…" Red trailed off and glanced into Crystal's eyes. "… Sorry, Crys. I didn't want to mentio-"

"Please don't say it," Crystal muttered.

"Right… let's go."

…

Several hours later, Spear Pillar, Sinnoh, 4 pm…

…

Spear Pillar… the 'home' of the portals that led to Dialga and Palkia… that at one point had a giant invisible hole on the ground that led to the Distortion World. But more importantly, this was where the portal to the Hall of Origin remained hidden.

Under normal circumstances, the mystical Azure Flute was required to open the portal, which would awaken Arceus that would be resting there. But waking up Arceus wasn't going to accomplish anything. The portal to the Hall of Origin would need to be opened without waking it up.

Which was why ShadowNet's research project data were stolen. A certain Pokémon can go in and out of Dialga, Palkia, and Arceus's dimensions without triggering any type of alarm. And that Pokémon was Unown. They never triggered any alarm because none of the Legendary Pokémon really gave a damn.

But these Unown were affected by ShadowNet's project and were still controllable with the right device.

A woman stood in front of a large pedestal that had the image of the Azure Flute carved in. The woman, Storc, pressed a button on a remote device. Tiny portals appeared all around the Spear Pillar as every single infected Unown warped into the area.

All the Unown began to fly around in a large circle around the pedestal, channeling their psychic energy into the center. Soon, a large portal opened up and a staircase made of hardlight appeared.

Storc smiled and sat on her Starmie. Stepping on the hardlight stairs would awaken Arceus. So the stairs must not be touched. The simplest solution to be just flying over it.

The Starmie floated high into the air while following the hardlight staircase. At the very top, the staircase ended with a large hardlight chamber/floor. And in the center, stood Arceus, still resting as the swarm of Unown had successfully created the portal and Storc ascended it without alerting it at all.

Storc pressed another button on the remote device. And immediately, all the infected Unown swarmed the Arceus in an instant.

…

"… Ugh…"

"Ruby?"

"…"

"Ruby? You awake?"

"Yeah… I'm up…"

Ruby groaned again and struggled to sit up. A hand held him down. He looked at the hand holding him and noticed that it belonged to Crystal. He took a glance around and noticed that he was lying on a couch in the waiting room of the makeshift hospital.

"Take it easy," the Johto Dex Holder said. "You've been out for a while."

"How long?" Ruby asked. "And what happened?"

"According to Yellow, it's been… 9 hours now," Crystal answered. "And… the Unown within you has left. During that process, you nearly killed Sapphire."

Ruby snapped upwards. "I did what?"

"You accidentally shattered her ribs where she got stabbed earlier. She had to go through another set of surgeries. She's stable now, but… it was really close."

"… I need to see her. Is she awake?"

"Yes," Crystal said. "She's the strongest girl I've ever seen. She woke up half an hour after the surgery. We told her to get some rest, but she's not listening. I think she's waiting for you."

"Great." Ruby managed to get to his feet and took a few seconds to get his bearings. "Ow, my head…" He reached up to his face and felt relieved when his fingers touched his face and not the cold solidified psychic energy of the infected Unown. "Well… at least I'm back to normal…"

"By the way," Crystal said. "For some reason, both you and Sapphire still have the symbols of the Red and Blue Orbs on your hands even though the Unown have left you. Any idea why?"

Ruby took off a glove and checked the symbol of the Red Orb on the back. "We apparently always had the Orbs' powers left in us. The Unown's presence just drew that power out. And… it's not going back down. Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe not. As long as the symbol doesn't burn bright red in the middle of the night, I'll let it slide."

Ruby pushed Crystal's wheelchair and headed towards the room in which Sapphire was staying. The room hadn't changed, so he had no difficulty finding it.

Inside the room, he found himself relieved to see Sapphire sitting upright (somehow), playing a board game against Emerald. The moment the girl saw the door open, she looked up.

"Hey, Ruby," she said happily, though her voice was awfully quiet and devoid of energy. In her happiness, she 'accidentally' hit the game board, rearranging all the pieces on it.

"Hey! You did that on purpose!" Emerald yelled out. "I had the game won!"

"Sapphire, I'm so glad that you're okay," Ruby said as he quickly moved towards her bed. "And thanks for staying with her, Emerald."

"Yeah, yeah," Emerald muttered as he picked up the pieces of the game board. "Crystal's orders."

"So it's true then," Sapphire said as she looked at Ruby's face. "That Unown did leave you. Good. I was worried that I might never be able to see your face again…"

Emerald let out a groan from having heard one of what he refers to as 'flirt lines'. But no one seemed to hear or care.

Ruby sat on the chair beside the bed. "Listen, I'm so sorry for what happened."

"It's alright," Sapphire said. "Only a few broken bones… that had been fixed not too long ago. And everything will be fine as long as you don't go all Gold on me." Only after she finished the sentence, did she realize her mistake. She quickly looked over at Crystal, who had placed a hand over her face. "I – I'm so sorry, Crystal. I didn't mean to…"

Crystal let out a long sigh. "… It's okay. You're right. We can't have any more of… _that_ incident happening. So Ruby, stay with Sapphire. And don't leave her like _he_ did… Sapphire, _make sure_ he doesn't leave you. Emerald, we're leaving."

The three Hoenn Dex Holders glanced at one another and carefully looked at Crystal, all feeling incredibly guilty. Especially Sapphire, as she was the one who brought that issue up, although inadvertently. Emerald soon pushed Crystal's wheelchair out of the room, leaving Ruby and Sapphire all alone. And from that point on, Ruby never left Sapphire's side, except when he had to eat something or go to the bathroom.

He did feel significant guilt for what happened, but he took Gold's example. Both of them were under control or some external influence when they harmed Crystal and Sapphire respectively. Both of them felt severe guilt. And because of that guilt, Gold had stayed away from Crystal and eventually sacrificed himself to set things right. Ruby saw what that sacrifice had done to Crystal, and how much she changed after that. He had no intention of letting the same thing happen to Sapphire. So he'd stay with her and find other harmless ways to alleviate his guilt. He'll start with a simple conversation.

"So… Sapphire, how are you doing? Be honest."

Sapphire dropped her smile. "Honestly? Okay… It hurts to breathe at times, I can't really move my body without something hurting like hell, and I might break something again if I _sneeze_. Why? How are you doing?"

"… Uh… I have a headache?"

"Oh, how terrible," Sapphire muttered. "Want some painkiller? Oh yeah, without any painkillers, I'll be screaming bloody murder for hours."

"… You're not making me feel any better here, Sapphire," Ruby said. "If this continues, I really might pull off a Gold move."

"I think it's best that you hear the worst of it all at once. That way, everything from this point will be good news. Besides, I am recovering. With ShadowNet completely dead, there's absolutely no reason for me to not rest up. I'll be fully healed in no time. Besides, Red _ordered_ me to stay in bed and rest up." Sapphire proceeded to move her body down the best so she could lie down. She had to do so very slowly and carefully, though. "Speaking of which… I think I need to sleep now. It's hard to keep my eyes open."

Ruby tucked in Sapphire and sat back down on the chair. Remaining perfectly still, he quietly watched her drift into sleep. He let out a quiet sigh. Sure, he felt incredible guilt. But he wasn't going to pull off a Gold move, for Sapphire's sake. Instead, he would see to it that she made a full recovery.

…

Meanwhile, Spear Pillar, Sinnoh…

…

Storc smiled as she looked at the Arceus standing right in front of her. It was completely covered by the infected Unown, from head to toe, making it appear ghostly white. Not that it wasn't mostly white to begin with, but now it looked eerie. It was under control now. But its full powers weren't usable at the moment. The Unown have yet to infect it to the core. Only its basic powers were usable. And as it used those powers, the Unown will infect deeper and deeper until Arceus is under _complete_ control.

Arceus getting controlled wouldn't have alerted anyone, as no one would know. But a few Pokémon would be able to sense the change. Namely, the Legendary Pokémon. They would be on alert now and could even spring to action. If multiple Legendary Pokémon began to move at once, that would draw people's attention, and those who study them, such as Cynthia, would realize that something might happen.

That had to change.

Simply eradicating them wasn't a good solution. That would draw even more attention and the Gym Leaders and Dex Holders would fight back while Arceus wasn't in 100% capability. So the only solution was to make the Legendary Pokémon act in such a way that made people suspect them and not on _why_ they were acting as such.

That was easy. Storc typed in a command on the remote device/console. This would spark an event in Hoenn that would draw everyone's attention. And consequently, every movement made by a Legendary Pokémon would be viewed as response to said event, or a prelude to another one.

It was time to re-spark the 100 000 year's war.

The controlled Arceus let out a small burst of energy. In that instant, Kyogre and Groudon snapped awake in Hoenn. And immediately, both Legendaries triggered their Abilities and moved towards each other. Given their current positions, they would meet in the heart of Lilycove City, the single biggest city in all of Hoenn.

Once the news of the war between Groudon and Kyogre spread, everyone, including the Dex Holders, will be distracted by it, which would allow the controlled Arceus to regain its full power.

After all the time spent waiting for ShadowNet to be finished, Storc's shot at the world had now just begun.

* * *

><p><strong>I hate this chapter title. But at the same time, I like it because it gives so much detail on what's to come. Especially if the part before this was a nightmare.<strong>

**And note: I follow Coronis's nicknaming and naming scheme. So that crazy evil Rocket/Galactic lady from FRLG and DP arcs will be called Storc here. Once again (I think I said this like 40 times now), I don't give a damn about the **_**official**_** English names (Sird). If too many people have problems, I'll switch the names to the original Japanese (Saque).**

**And no, having a truck-load of Unown will NOT trigger the Hall of Origin event in the Spear Pillar of DPPt. Azure Flute (the damn event that was never, ever released) is still the only requirement.**


	34. 100,000 Year's War

**Fast update, due to current priority for S-EARLY… er… S-ARLY. … I'm still going to say S-EARLY, even though SE is over. Anyway, the current priority is… to end SA. As in, to finish, not cancel. There is no date-objective, but I'm hoping to finish this in 2013. … This may also mean that SR and SL won't see an update this year, but we'll see what happens.**

**So, quite a few people thought I would kill Sapphire the last chapter. Understandable, though it was not my intention. But hey, Dex Holders never die. They're just… … oh wait… I mean, **_**badass**_** Dex Holders never d… wait… never mind.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 31: 100,000 Year's War<p>

August 20, 8 am, Pallet Town, Kanto…

Ruby and Sapphire both snapped awake when they felt a slight burning sensation on the back of their hands. When they opened their eyes, they noticed that the hospital room was glowing eerily blue. Sapphire realized that the blue light was coming from her hands, and saw that the symbol of the Blue Orb was glowing very bright on the back of her hand.

Ruby took off his gloves and saw the same thing happening on the back of his hand, but with the symbol of the Red Orb. The two lights did not merge together and the room became enveloped in red and blue lights, with Ruby's side of the room glowing red while Sapphire's side glowed blue. Both Hoenn Dex Holders put their gloves back on and the room darkened again. Ruby proceeded to turn the light on in the room.

"Hey Ruby, do you feel that?" Sapphire asked quietly. "I feel… something moving. Like something moving through water…"

"I feel something too," Ruby answered as he sat back down beside the bed. "But as if that something is walking on land. I feel faint, rhythmic thumps in my head."

The two Dex Holders stared at the burning light coming from their hands (now covered by their gloves) before they looked over at each other.

"Do you think… they're back?" Sapphire asked. "Groudon and Kyogre… If they're back, and are moving at the same time…"

"I don't know," Ruby answered. "I hope not. If they fight each other again…"

Sapphire turned to look at the door. "I have a feeling that the next person to come through that door is going to give us an update on this matter…"

"Why do you say that?"

"Isn't that what always happens in movies or stories?" Sapphire asked. "When the main characters, and I'm not implying anything here, wonder whether the situation can get worse, someone usually barges into the scene to tell them that things did get a hell of a lot worse."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever he-"

Just then, someone knocked on the door, effectively interrupting Ruby. Both Hoenn Dex Holders turned to look at the door. It opened shortly after and Platinum appeared, peeking into the room to see if it was okay to visit. Seeing both of her seniors awake and looking in her direction, the heiress pushed the door wide open and politely bowed to them.

"Hey, rookie," Sapphire said with a rather pained wave.

"Hello, senior Sapphire. Senior Ruby. I have come to see if you are awake," Platinum said as she approached them.

"And you have no news for us?" Ruby asked.

The heiress appeared slightly confused. "I do not understand what news you mean."

Ruby looked at Sapphire with a smirk. "See? What'd I tell you? It's the stupidest thing ev-"

Just then, Winona appeared in the doorway with a rather shocked expression. "Ruby, Sapphire, the Hoenn Pokémon League Association is going to leave for Hoenn. You two will need to be transferred to an actual hospital within Kanto."

"Why?" Sapphire asked.

"Groudon and Kyogre have clashed in Lilycove City! We have to go and stop them!"

Sapphire looked at Ruby with a smirk. "See? I told y-" She stopped mid-syllable and quickly faced Winona again. "Wait, what?! Again?"

"They're fighting much more aggressively than the last time. Half of Lilycove is completely scorched while the other half is underwater. We have to go right now and stop them in any way we can."

"But then why leave us behind?" Sapphire asked.

"Even if you were healthy, I would have asked you to stay behind as it's too dangerous," Winona replied. "But right now, given your health… you have to stay here. It's far too risky."

Sapphire clenched her hands tight. "I can't stay behind while my home region is being destroyed! I have to go!"

"Senior Sapphire, I understand how you feel, but you must rest. Please do not engage yourself in this occurrence," Platinum said.

Sapphire shook her head. "You don't understand. Without me and Ruby, it's impossible to stop their fight!" She removed her glove showed the back of her hand to everyone in the room. The room was now illuminated by an ominous blue glow. "Name me one other person who had come in contact with the Blue Orb, is still alive, _and_ had the remaining powers amplified by the Unown! If you can, I'll sit this one out. Face it. Ruby and I are the only ones who can possibly stop this quarrel! So we can't avoid this!"

"But Sapphire, if you go to Hoenn," Ruby muttered. "… You might die…"

"… If all of Hoenn is destroyed because I stayed away from the fight so I could live, how do you think I can live with that? I'll never be able to look up ever again! I'd rather die trying to save Hoenn instead of sitting on some damned bed, watching the destruction!"

"But senior," Platinum tried to object.

"Rookie, you've read a whole crap-load of books, right?" Sapphire asked. "Then you should know better than I do that individual's lives are trivial when compared to the fate of an entire region! If the situation was different and you were in my place with Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina wreaking havoc in Sinnoh, you'll be demanding to go over to Sinnoh yourself!"

Platinum tried to say something, but couldn't. She didn't have anything to say, since her senior was right. Sapphire waited for her to reply for a few seconds before she continued.

"And besides, from what I heard, when Red, Gold and I went out of contact in Violet City, you volunteered to go and find Red even though Green ordered you stay out of danger."

Winona closed her eyes and trembled as she fought to make the hard decision. She turned away from her pupil and let out a long sigh. "… Damn it… I hate making these kinds of choices… Very well, Sapphire… We'll… head for Hoenn… I'm sorry…"

Sapphire sighed. "Okay. Good… We have no time to waste, right? Let's get going." She looked over at Platinum and gave her a bitter smile. "Rookie… go to Red and tell him what happened. And be sure to tell him and I will return. I will keep that promise I made to him."

…

6 hours later, Lilycove City, Hoenn, 2 pm…

…

Ruby entered the hospital room in the Hoenn Pokémon League Association blimp in his newly washed clothes that were identical to the set he had a few minutes ago. Inside, he saw Sapphire standing on her feet beside the bed, moving her body little by little in order to prepare herself for what was to come.

"Hey Ruby," she said with a smile. "… Do you think I should… change? I mean, I can't really go into this fight wearing hospital clothes. And my regular clothes have a giant hole in the middle."

Ruby understood her intentions. She was very nervous and was trying her best to ease the tension. And he appreciated it.

"Well, I suppose there is the whole set of extra sets of the clothes I made for you before that one… But… they're kind of old though."

"Fitting, don't you think? I'll be going to stop the fight between Groudon and Kyogre wearing the same clothes that I had when we stopped their fight the first time all those years ago."

Ruby let out a short sigh and placed the new… old clothes on the bed. He actually had the same thoughts as Sapphire, which was why he came with that set of clothes in his bag in the first place.

He then turned away and let Sapphire change. She grunted in exertion a few times during the process, but she still managed to change pretty quickly.

"There. Sure brings a lot of memories," Sapphire said.

Ruby turned around again and saw her in the red attire he had made for her years ago, putting the green bandana around her head.

"… Yeah. Sure does…"

"You okay, Ruby?"

"Are you really sure about this, Sapphire?" Ruby asked. "… It's a mess down there…"

Sapphire walked up to him and grabbed onto his hands. "I'm sure. And trust me. I'll be fine." She kissed him on the cheek and let go of his hands. "Let's get going."

Ruby and Sapphire headed towards the entrance to the blimp and looked through the open door. The blimp was currently floating above Lilycove City and slowly descending for a landing. But the city was unrecognizable. Only a handful of buildings remained intact. Most were demolished and whatever was left were either on fire or half submerged.

The two Hoenn Legendaries were spotted around where the Contest Hall used to be. The Groudon fired a Solarbeam. The Kyogre dodged the attack by going underwater. It then immediately responded with a Hydro Pump, which the Groudon dodged as well.

Sapphire sent out her Tropius and jumped on. Ruby heard her gasp and groan at the landing, but shook his head and followed. The situation was chaotic. Sapphire's wellbeing had to be pushed back from his focus, unfortunately.

The moment the two Hoenn Dex Holders left the blimp, the Groudon and Kyogre stopped fighting. Instead, they turned their attention to the two Dex Holders.

Sapphire squinted as she tried to see what the two Pokémon were doing. The two Pokémon's eyes glowed red in a blink of an eye. Immediately, Ruby and Sapphire felt intense burning pain coming from their hands as the symbols of the Red and Blue Orbs started to move up on their arms.

"S – Sapphire! Focus!" Ruby groaned out as he tried his absolute best to keep the symbol on his forearm and not any higher.

"Y – Yeah… I'm trying!" she said through clenched teeth. With the symbol directly below her elbow, she extended a hand towards Kyogre. "… Stop… stop fighting!"

Ruby directed his hand towards Groudon and tried telling it to stop fighting as well. In response, Groudon shot a Fire Blast at them and Kyogre shot Hydro Pump. Sapphire's Tropius quickly dodged to the side, forcing Ruby and Sapphire to lose focus momentarily.

"This isn't working!" Sapphire gasped out. "We can't focus like this… Groudon and Kyogre need to be distracted!"

As if they heard her words, the remaining Hoenn Gym Leaders began to attack the two Legendaries from every direction. They weren't doing any damage to the two Legendaries, but they were being quite annoying, effectively drawing attention on themselves.

"There!" Ruby yelled out. "Groudon and Kyogre aren't looking in our direction! Now's our chance!"

Ruby and Sapphire focused all their strength and attention on trying to control the two Pokémon. But the two Pokémon didn't have to look in their direction in order to attack them.

Kyogre suddenly shot up a huge burst of water. Water Spout. Sapphire's Tropius quickly dodged that attack, only to run into the path of a huge burst of molten rock. Eruption. The Fruit Pokémon dodged again and ended up under the heavy rain clouds created by Kyogre's Drizzle. Bad move. A massive electric bolt hit the Tropius from the heavy rain clouds as Kyogre had used Thunder.

The Tropius began to plummet towards the ground. Ruby held onto the Pokémon with one hand and held Sapphire in place with the other. Luckily for them, the Tropius hit the water instead of the solid rocks and other hard objects. Though given the height and the speed of the fall, water felt as hard as concrete. Hitting concrete was still a hell of a lot worse, but the impact with water still hurt a lot.

To make things worse, Ruby had lost his grip on Sapphire and her Tropius.

Underwater, Ruby quickly sent out his Milotic and grabbed on. He couldn't see Sapphire or her Pokémon anywhere. He could only hope that she had sent out her Relicanth or Wailord to save herself. Ruby's Milotic quickly swam up to the surface so that its trainer could breathe.

The moment he surfaced, Ruby sent out his Swampert so that it could go look for Sapphire and her Tropius. And in the meantime, he got his Milotic to swim towards the nearest land that wasn't remotely near Groudon.

The Groudon turned its attention to Ruby when he climbed out of the water. His Milotic shot a Hydro Pump at it in an attempt to get it to go away. The attack hit the Continent Pokémon right in the face, but it did absolutely nothing. The Groudon prepared to use Fire Blast again, and the blast radius would be big enough to engulf Ruby and his Milotic without even having to aim.

Ruby raised both of his hands towards the Groudon and focused on the power of the Red Orb.

"STOP!"

The Continent Pokémon seemingly flinched, and in that instant, the symbol of the Red Orb shot up Ruby's arm and stopped around his bicep, with the burning energy tearing his shirt sleeve.

The Groudon glared down at him and prepared the aborted Fire Blast again. Just before the attack was launched, a massive Water type attack hit it on the face, causing it to stumble backwards.

Ruby realized that the attack was Hydro Cannon. But… how? Only a handful of people in the world could use the attack. And one of them was dead. And apart from himself, none of the remainder was in Hoenn…

He snapped out of his thoughts when a Frenzy Plant hit Kyogre from afar. He looked over where the attacks came from and spotted Emerald and Platinum with their Sceptile and Empoleon out. Wait, Platinum?

Ruby quickly returned his Milotic and ran towards the two Dex Holders. Emerald chose to focus on Kyogre by constantly attacking it while Platinum went to greet Ruby once he came close enough to avoid being attacked by Groudon.

"Senior! We came to help!"

"But… how?" Ruby asked. "Without any aerial vehicles, it would've taken you much longer… And… Hydro Cannon?"

"Senior Red and senior Green have taught me how to use the Ultimate Move after I told them about Hoenn," Platinum explained. "Afterwards, Miss Sabrina of Team Rocket Teleported us here. Unfortunately, she can only Teleport two people at a time. Senior Red and Senior Green are currently teaching Diamond and Pearl how to use Frenzy Plant and Blast Burn. Senior Silver has not moved from senior Blue's grave, and senior Yellow and senior Crystal are staying with him. And with junior Black not responding, senior Emerald and I were the only candidates."

"Well, thanks a lot," Ruby said. "It was getting quite hard. The power of the Red Orb within me isn't enough to control Groudon…"

"… Same goes for me with Kyogre," came Sapphire's voice from behind.

Ruby spun around and spotted the girl walking towards him, being supported by his Swampert. Sapphire's Wailord was still in the water, with the girl's Tropius sitting above the water on its back.

"Sapphire! You're okay!"

"Like I said," Sapphire grunted out. "I won't die yet." She managed to wave at Platinum. "Hey, rookie… thanks for coming. And congratulations for learning Hydro Cannon."

"Hey, you three, quit your yapping and come up with a plan," Emerald said from the side.

Just then, a Lunatone and Solrock descended from above, with Liza and Tate holding onto them respectively.

"I think we can help with that," Liza said as she let go of her Lunatone.

"Juan suggests that we use psychic powers to further enhance the power in your veins," Tate added to his twin sister's words.

Sapphire sat on the ground and put a hand over her chest. "… Let's do it, then," she said between breaths.

Liza looked at Sapphire and tilted her head. "I… don't think we should do it to you. If we do… you might die."

Sapphire sighed and struggled back to her feet. "Yeah, yeah, I heard that crap already. But damn it, I can't just sit back! I'm the only hope you have for controlling Kyogre!"

"Sapphire, just… listen and sit back on this one," Ruby suggested.

"No! Don't you get it? If we can't stop this fight here, all of Hoenn will be destroyed! And then what? The destruction would continue! Sooner or later, I'm going to have to get involved to stop this. I have to do it now to keep damage to a minimum!"

The two Mossdeep Gym Leaders glanced at each other before directing their attention to Ruby and Sapphire. Tate's Solrock drifted in front of Ruby while Liza's Lunatone did the same for Sapphire.

"Alright… hold still."

Emerald and Platinum watched the process for a couple of seconds before focusing on Kyogre and Groudon. The two Legendaries weren't fighting at the moment. Instead, Kyogre was remaining perfectly calm while Groudon was tensing all over. The two ancient Pokémon let out a roar after the calmness and engaged each other once again.

"Was that what I thought it was?" Emerald asked Platinum.

The heiress faced her senior and nodded. "I believe so, senior. Kyogre had used Calm Mind and Groudon had used Bulk Up."

"Spectacular," Emerald grumbled out. "Now all we need is Rayquaza spamming Dragon Dance and we'll have a _jolly_ good time!"

Platinum slightly frowned. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but she could've sworn that the Green Orb core on Emerald's forehead glowed just a tiny bit when he mentioned Rayquaza… The girl shook her head. That wasn't the immediate concern.

"Senior, may I suggest you try to use your E-shooter to calm the two Pokémon?"

"Don't know how much good it might do," Emerald said as he took out his E-shooter. "… I need to get close for the shot to hit." He glanced left and right before sighing in exasperation. "Where the hell are Latias and Latios when you need them?!" The moment he said it, he glanced left and right again, as if waiting for the two Eon Pokémon to deactivate their invisibility right beside him. "… Really? Nothing to that? Damn it…" He took out a Pokéball and tossed it in the air, sending out a Xatu. "I guess it's a good thing Crystal lent me her Xatu. Alright, I'll give the E-shooter a try. Platinum, you hit Groudon and Kyogre with everything you have."

The heiress got her Empoleon and Emerald's Sceptile to attack with their full power. She jumped in surprise when Sapphire started to shouting in pain from behind. Platinum quickly spun around and noticed that Ruby and Sapphire were both floating in the air as Solrock and Lunatone's Psychic amplified the powers of the Red and Blue Orbs.

The symbols of the two Orbs had moved up towards the shoulders of the two Dex Holders, and by the looks of it, the experience was excruciating. Ruby had his eyes, teeth, and fists clenched tight. Sapphire had her eyes shut as well, but occasionally let out a groan or grunt in agony.

Sapphire suddenly twitched and the symbol of the Blue Orb appeared on her forehead. In that instant, her eyes snapped open and glowed eerily blue. The same thing happened to Ruby with his Red Orb symbol, but his eyes were glowing red.

"What…" Platinum muttered in shock.

"Almost done," Liza said. "And… now!"

Lunatone and Solrock hit Sapphire and Ruby with a strong pulse of Psychic before releasing them. The symbols of the Blue and Red Orbs faded away and their eyes returned to normal.

Ruby stumbled on the ground and groaned while Sapphire simply collapsed. Platinum rushed to her side to see if she was okay.

"Senior?" she called as she shook her senior. There was no response. The heiress checked her senior's pulse and froze when her fingers registered nothing. "… Senior? Senior!"

Ruby snapped back to full consciousness and blinked several times straight to clear his vision. The first thing he saw was Sapphire lying motionless on the ground. "Sapphire!"

Sapphire suddenly gasped and started to tremble while coughing violently. Everyone around her jumped in surprise, but let out a sigh of relief.

"Senior!" Platinum cried out in joy.

"Sapphire! You're okay!" Ruby cried out as well.

Sapphire coughed again and put her gloved hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop. Soon after, she managed to calm down and took a few seconds to catch her breath. "… I told you… I can't die yet!"

Ruby let out another sigh. "Good… … good…" He helped Sapphire up to her feet and supported her from the side. "Take it easy, Sapphire."

"No time," the girl muttered. "Come on… you sissy… let's finish this."

With a grunt, Sapphire hobbled forward on her own will, heading towards her Tropius in order to stop the fight between Groudon and Kyogre, pushing aside those who tried to convince her otherwise. The Tropius was hurt from the Thunder, but it allowed Sapphire to get on and waited for Ruby to do the same. It knew the importance of her participation. And it also knew her determination.

Ruby was about to head towards the Tropius as well when he felt something odd in the hand he used to help Sapphire up. He looked at his gloved hand and froze when he saw blood. But Sapphire wasn't bleeding anywhere. She only coughed… and covered those coughs with her hand. And he had grabbed that hand when he pulled her up. Did this mean that she had coughed up blood? But then-

"Come on! What are you waiting for?"

Ruby steeled himself for what needed to be done. He climbed on top of the Tropius and decided to mention the blood thing only after this crisis was stopped.

Platinum watched her two seniors head towards danger again. She sincerely hoped that both of her seniors would return alive and well, as she couldn't bear to witness another Dex Holder death. When she first thought Sapphire had died a few seconds ago, she felt as if her heart stopped. And she didn't want to experience that ever again.

After a deep breath, Platinum sent out Yellow's Butterfree (which had been lent to her once again) and joined Emerald in distracting Groudon and Kyogre, thereby leaving her own Empoleon and Emerald's Sceptile to attack as they see fit.

Ruby and Sapphire approached the closest Legendary Pokémon, which was Kyogre. The Sea Basin Pokémon was currently trying to blast-freeze Winona's pesky Flying type Pokémon with a mix of Thunder and Ice Beam. Given her primary type's weakness, the Fortree Gym Leader and her Pokémon were adept at evading those types of moves, especially if those attacks came from a single source. Unlike the ShadowNet invasion, in which the whole damn sky was filled with those attacks…

Sapphire focused on the stronger power of the Blue Orb in her body and tried telling Kyogre to stop attacking. She could feel it working just a little bit, as the Sea Basin Pokémon didn't attack so frequently. But she was too far away to gain complete control.

"Damn it…" she gasped out. "It's too far away… I can't control it from here…" Sapphire clenched her teeth and tapped her Tropius. "Tororo… take Ruby over to Groudon. And don't come back for me until it's under his control!"

"Wait! Sapphire!" Ruby tried to object, but Sapphire had already slid off of her Tropius, plummeting towards the Kyogre.

And before Ruby could object some more, the Tropius reluctantly flew towards Groudon. When he came close enough to Groudon to feel the intense heat from its Drought, Ruby was quite, _quite_ angry. He hated this damn fight. He hated how Sapphire had to risk her life so damn much just to stop the fight between a couple of freaking ancient Pokémon that have been fighting each other for freaking millennia. Talk about a rivalry…

Ruby understood Sapphire's intentions, of course. And her reasoning. Especially this case. Standing on top of Kyogre was a hell of a lot easier than standing on top of Groudon. Even if Kyogre moved, it was very wide, so it still provided a lot of 'ground' to stand on. And it wasn't even capable of moving from side to side anyways. But Groudon was different. If it moved once, it would be quite easy to fall off. And falling off from that height would be fatal. So this meant that whoever was going to control Groudon would need aerial transport to stay close while the one controlling Kyogre needed no such thing. It just happened that the critically injured Sapphire was the one controlling Kyogre. Damn.

So Ruby used his anger. And there was a _lot_ of anger built up from this fight alone. It helped him focus much, much better. He directed his pent up frustrations and anger at Groudon in one burst.

"STOP THIS FUCKING FIGHT!"

In that instant, the symbol of the Red Orb appeared on his forehead. The Groudon looked up at him but didn't attack. And instead, it _finally_ did as told and stopped being hostile to any and all things that moved, and in particular, it stopped being super hostile to that ancient, massive blue thing that was in the air currently. … Wait…

Ruby glanced back and spotted the Kyogre high in the air as it attempted to create a massive tidal wave from its own splash. Only when it reached the peak of its jump did it obeyed Sapphire's orders and stopped all hostilities. But it couldn't undo the jump. And as strong as it was, it couldn't break the law of gravity.

"Groudon stopped, so go get Sapphire!" Ruby ordered Sapphire's Tropius.

The Fruit Pokémon did as told and flew towards the Sea Basin Pokémon as fast as it could manage. From the Kyogre, Sapphire saw her Tropius come closer. With whatever strength she had left, she jumped off of the ancient Pokémon, with her hand extended towards Ruby.

Ruby reached down as much as he could so that he could grab Sapphire before it was too late. She came close before the physics of projectile motion differed from Sapphire's opinion of how her overall movements should be. The Tropius dipped down even more, to the point where Ruby might fall off due to the angle. But he held on. And miraculously, he managed to grab Sapphire's hand before she fell out of reach.

While staying safe high above the ground, Ruby pulled Sapphire onto the Tropius. The girl coughed a few times and let out a sigh of relief as she rested her body against Ruby's.

"Is… is it over?" she managed to ask.

Ruby glanced down and saw both Groudon and Kyogre looking up at them, appearing surprisingly docile for two super ancient Pokémon prone to causing regional-destruction. Kyogre had apparently reduced the impact by diving straight into the water, thereby causing far less of a splash. The minor wave caused no structural harm to Lilycove City. … Partly because there were no structures left to harm. But more importantly, Groudon didn't seem to care.

"… I think so, yeah. They're not attacking."

Ruby and Sapphire got the Tropius to slowly land. On the surface, Emerald, Platinum, and the gathered Gym Leaders were waiting for them. The heiress kept her hands over her heart as she nervously waited for _both_ of her seniors to return. Emerald seemed to have noticed it.

"Don't worry too much," he said. "That bickering couple is hard to get rid of. They'll be fine."

The Tropius landed and both Ruby and Sapphire got off, much to everyone's relief. Except Emerald, _maybe_. The Gym Leaders started to applaud as the two Hoenn Dex Holders came closer. Sapphire didn't have the strength to walk on her own anymore, so Ruby had to support her. But she still had a big smile on her face for having completed a dauntingly difficult task.

Platinum sighed in relief and joy as she ran up to meet her seniors. But while she did so, her expression darkened. Her eyes were focused on Groudon and Kyogre. And what she saw got her worried.

Ruby and Sapphire noticed her gaze and looked back. The two ancient Pokémon were staring at the sky, as if they were searching for something. Everyone in the vicinity immediately worried that Rayquaza was here to fight its fellow ancients.

Groudon and Kyogre suddenly let out an enraged roar. The moment the roar ended, Groudon fired a Fire Blast and Kyogre shot a Hydro Pump at the sky. The two attacks hit the same target. Something invisible.

The invisible object became visible once the attacks hit. And it appeared to be a giant white ball. Sapphire squinted and noticed that it was a ball of the infected Unown. But… why was it here?

The infected Unown started to rearrange themselves. Sapphire realized that the Unown were… a shield, so to speak. Something was inside. And it wasn't something she noticed. She never saw such a thing before. It was big, completely white, and appeared to have four legs, a long neck, and two half-ring shaped crests extended from its midsection. If she didn't know better, she'd say that it was similar to what Gold and Crystal had described to be Arceus. But that was insane…

In a blink of an eye, the suspected Arceus and the infected Unown blinked away through a portal. And in that split second, Sapphire saw a woman sitting on top of a Starmie right next to the suspected Arceus.

"… What the hell?"

* * *

><p><strong>Once again, ignore some of the real-life mechanics that screw with the story. Getting hit by Thunder (as in, the attack Thunder, <strong>_**not**_** the sound that comes with the lightning bolt) would mean the victim is hit by lightning. Even with ignoring the pure current (that would cause enough cardiac arrests and other critical damage to kill a human like 20 times over), the temperature goes over several thousand degrees Celsius. So anyone hit by a lightning bolt would be dead. Very, very dead. The odds of surviving that would be the same as the odds of a Hoppip surviving an Icicle Spear from a Skill Link Cloyster after 3 Shell Smashes. Not going to happen.**

**Also, as mentioned, ignore game stats for Legendary Pokémon. They're for game balance only. Base stat relations will be ignored while the actual stat will be referenced. There's a difference between saying: "Groudon has much higher Attack power than Special Attack power" and "Garchomp has higher Attack power than Arceus".**

**AND, also as mentioned, ignore the Legendary's size. Groudon is not 11 feet tall. That would be ridiculous.**

**Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: Blue, Gold, White.**

**So it turned out that Ruby and Sapphire have done the most important actions on their own, twice now. The first being destroying ShadowNet Johto HQ that turned the tide on the ShadowNet war, and the second being stopping the second Groudon and Kyogre fight. Well, third fight, if you count the one from the legends. And as it turned out, Sapphire, who has the power of the Blue Orb, is in Red's team and Ruby, who has the power of the Red Orb, is in Blue's team. The swap is unintentional, so a nice coincidence.**

**Below is the WCHB for this chapter that I could've used to lighten the mood. But they were removed for obvious reasons. And they're both references to other stuff (non-game).**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been (no conditions, 1 of 2):<p>

Ruby looked over at where the two Ultimate Attacks came from and spotted Emerald with his Sceptile, and Platinum with her Empoleon. The heiress had one of her hands pointed at Groudon and had a big grin on her face.

Ruby quickly ran up to her. "Platinum? Did you just use Hydro Cannon?"

The heiress let out a laugh. "Yes! That is correct. I have _finally_ realized my potential! The potential that senior Red saw. The potential that all evil _feared_. The potential that would make me one of the most powerful trainers of all time! I, Platinum Berlitz, have finally learned the Ultimate Attack!"

Emerald sighed. "Yeah. You're the 10th person to learn it. Technically 11th, if you count Yellow and Volt Tackle. And only Gold bragged about it. I guess Crystal was right when she said that you spent too much time with your team members."

…

(2 of 2)

…

"Senior, may I suggest you try to use your E-shooter to try to calm the two Pokémon?"

Emerald crossed his arms. "I don't know. I never tried to use it against such a large Pokémon before. I guess if I increase the size of the shot, maybe…" He took out his E-shooter and looked at it. "I think I can do something about it…"

Platinum watched as Emerald took out a few bits and pieces of machine parts from his pockets and attached them onto the E-shooter. She turned her attention back to the two fighting Hoenn Legendaries and got her Empoleon to blast Groudon with Hydro Cannon again.

When she looked over at Emerald again, his E-shooter had become… much bigger. It used to be the shape and size of a pistol. Now it was… the size of a sniper rifle. The heiress shrugged and focused on the battle again.

A minute later, the heiress jumped in surprise when an eardrum shattering blast was heard right by her side. She quickly looked over and froze in shock when she spotted Emerald standing beside a _cannon_. That fired E-shooter shots bigger than her head like a railgun.

Emerald squinted to see the effects of the E-rail-cannon-shooter shot. He then looked over at Platinum. "Nah. I don't think it did anything."


	35. Priority Shift

**SA's completion is still the current priority for S-EARLY, but alas, I've been quite distracted. Hence the slow update and absolutely no progress on any of the other stories.**

**The second half of this chapter has partially appeared as SE #038: After Image. Though some details may have been edited. So go read that for additional stuff.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 32: Priority Shift<p>

August 20, Lilycove City, Hoenn, 4 pm…

"Senior, what was that?" Platinum asked a few seconds after the ball of Unown warped away.

Sapphire stared blankly at the spot in the sky where the ball was. "I… don't know. I think it was a ball of that infected Unown. But… they were protecting something. And I have no idea what it was exactly. And there was someone sitting on a Starmie next to that thing…"

Ruby shook his head. "Listen, whatever the Groudon and Kyogre were so angry at is gone. So let's return to Kanto and tell our seniors what we found. Sapphire, you _really_ need to rest up."

Sapphire covered her mouth as she coughed again. She looked at her gloved hand afterwards and saw blood. "… That's not good, now is it? Let's go."

Platinum saw the blood and panicked a little. "Y – Yes! I shall contact senior Green at once and let him know that we are ready to be Teleported. Senior Emerald and I will wait until Miss Sabrina can Teleport us again. Senior Sapphire takes priority!"

Just as Platinum was about to contact Green via Pokégear (headset damaged from being submerged), Groudon let out an earth-shaking roar. Ruby and Sapphire quickly turned to face it, with Ruby preparing to use the power of the Red Orb once again. But the Continent Pokémon didn't look hostile. It appeared to asking something. Requesting something. Too bad no one had a clue what it was saying.

"I think it wants something," Platinum muttered. "But…"

"Only if Yellow was here," Ruby muttered. A thought occurred and he looked up at Groudon. Kyogre was floating on water right beside it, waiting. "… What if… we temporarily captured you two?"

"What?" Sapphire muttered in surprise.

Emerald crossed his (fake) arms and nodded. "That could work. These two clearly want to tell you something and they know something about that… thing in the air. Yellow's the only one who can understand them, and she's in Kanto. Not to mention, wild girl here needs to get to the hospital to survive. So we get Sabrina to Teleport you two back to Kanto after you capture both Groudon and Kyogre."

Sapphire looked up at Groudon and Kyogre. "… Would that be okay?"

The two ancient Pokémon nodded.

Emerald stomped on the ground with his Platform Shoes and two Ultra Balls popped out. Ruby picked them up and gave one to Sapphire. They shared a glance before throwing the Ultra Balls at the two Legendary Pokémon…

…

Pallet Town…

…

Yellow dropped onto the couch in the main room of Prof. Oak's lab. Comforting Silver and Black was a lot easier said than done. Even with Crystal's help, it took quite some time. But it was done. Crystal was talking to Silver to keep him company and Black was being trained by Red and Green. Yellow wanted to talk to Green as well, but he didn't want to talk to anyone. Maybe more time needs to pass.

So for now, Yellow could take a break. And it was a much need bre-

Something suddenly warped into the space in front of her in a blink of an eye. Yellow shrieked and jumped in surprise, accidentally throwing herself over the couch. After being stunned for a couple of seconds, she carefully peeked over the couch and noticed that Ruby and Sapphire had Teleported in front of her. Sabrina's doing, no less.

"Ugh… I'll never get used to that," Sapphire grunted out as she sat down on the floor. She kept a hand over her chest as she tried to catch her breath.

Ruby sat beside her and nodded in agreement. "Yeah… It's terrible, alright."

Yellow let out a sigh of relief. "Good to see you again. I'm guessing that you two managed to stop the crisis in Hoenn. Though you could've just… Teleported _outside_ the lab and just _knocked_ on the door. Save me a potential case of a serious heart attack."

"Sorry," Ruby said. "But we needed to come here as soon as possible. Sapphire needs to rest up and we need you to read some Pokémon."

"Huh? … Okay, sure."

Ruby got back up to his feet. "Well, the two Pokémon can't be read inside a building." He gave his senior the two Ultra Balls containing the two ancient Pokémon.

Yellow looked inside the Ultra Balls and appeared moderately surprised. "You… captured them? Wow… Alright, I guess these two wanted to tell you something in order to be captured and remain calm."

Ruby pulled Sapphire up to her feet and supported her from the side. "Yeah. Anyways… is that hospital in Viridian City cleared for us to enter? I don't want Sapphire to be chased out of it like Platinum."

"You can stay in the lab, actually. We vacated a room for the hospital role once that blimp left."

Once the two Hoenn Dex Holders walked away, Yellow left the lab and approached the largest open field she could find. She gave herself considerable distance and threw the two Ultra Balls far apart from each other.

The two Hoenn Legendaries popped out and hit the ground with an earth shaking thud. The Kyogre didn't seem to mind that it was not on water. The two Legendaries scanned the skies for a second before focusing on Yellow. Yellow looked up at them, wondering how she was going to read their minds. She needed to place her hand on their head, and there was no way she could reach that high.

The Groudon lowered itself as much as possible. Yellow looked up at it and measured the distance. Okay, it was worth a shot. With a deep breath, she gathered her strength and jumped as high as she could manage with her hands stretched as high as she could reach. Her hands probably reached close to 3 meters off the ground. And Groudon's head was still 10 meters above the ground. Damn. Well, that didn't work… And Yellow had lent her aerial transport Pokémon to Platinum…

An hour later, Emerald and Platinum were Teleported back to Pallet Town, as Sabrina had enough rest since the previous regional Teleport. The moment they shook away the shocks of the Teleport, they jumped in surprise upon spotting _four_ massive Legendary Pokémon staring at each other in the middle of an open field. Groudon and Kyogre were facing Lugia and Ho-oh, and it wasn't immediately clear whether the four Legendaries were hostile or not.

Emerald and Platinum only realized that the situation wasn't bad when they spotted Yellow trying to balance on Lugia's head while the Diving Pokémon inched towards Groudon.

"Senior Yellow? What are you doing?" Platinum asked.

Yellow looked over at her and simply stood still, appearing to be quite baffled. "… _Now_ you return? I've been trying to figure out a way to read Groudon for an _hour_ because I didn't have aerial transport! I can't read its mind if I can't reach its head! And now I put this potentially catastrophically dangerous plan into motion and…" She shook her head and immediately regretted her decision as it was getting harder to maintain balance. "… Good to see you all alive and well. Now Platinum, can I have Peesk back?"

"Oh, certainly."

Platinum sent out Yellow's Butterfree and left the Pokéball on the ground. She had to report back to Red and then find Sapphire. She didn't have time to stick around and watch Yellow do acrobatics on top of a Legendary Pokémon, no matter how… entertaining it might have been.

Several minutes later, all of the Dex Holders except gathered in the main room of Professor Oak's lab, waiting for Yellow to return. Sapphire remained seated on the couch with a couple of medical equipment attached. Ruby sat beside her and made sure everything was okay. The other Dex Holders congratulated them on a job well done and listened to the two Hoenn Dex Holders explain all that happened.

"A ball of infected Unown? Hmm… so that's where they all went?" Green muttered.

"I think so," Sapphire answered. "I don't know for sure. They were too far away. Even for me."

"What the hell are they doing there, anyways?" Red asked.

"There was a person sitting on a Starmie," Sapphire said. "Maybe that had something to do with it."

Just then Yellow entered the room, holding the Pokéballs (and Ultra Balls) containing the four Legendary Pokémon. She appeared quite shaken as she sat down on an empty seat.

"Yellow, what's wrong?" Crystal asked.

"I… read Groudon and Kyogre and Lugia and… Ho-oh," the Kanto Dex Holder muttered out. "And… I don't know where to start." She took a series of deep breaths to calm down. "Okay… Groudon and Kyogre… they didn't fight because they wanted to. They were forced. Controlled. That was why they stopped fighting so quickly. Once that control was disrupted, they had no reason to fight."

"What were they controlled by?" Ruby asked. "Because they didn't look any different than they did all those years ago when they clashed again in Sootopolis."

"… Arceus," Yellow answered. "They were controlled by Arceus."

"What?" Silver and Crystal muttered at once. "Arceus? But… why?"

"I read Lugia for that. It told me that something was wrong with Arceus. It's not normal. Lugia believes that it's being controlled. I read Kyogre afterwards and I realized that…" Yellow looked at Red before continuing. "… It's Storc, Red. She's the one controlling Arceus."

"Shit," Green muttered. "So where is she? We have to find her and stop her right now."

"We can't," Yellow answered. "She's not in this dimension right now. And we don't know where exactly. Lugia thinks it's because Arceus needs to return to full strength, so it disappeared somewhere where it won't be detected. We have four days before it fully recovers."

Green closed his eyes and sighed. "So this is what the ShadowNet boss was saying. The one who stole their equipment. It was Storc."

"Senior Blue and I overheard a few ShadowNet members talking about missing equipment," Platinum said. "We thought they only lost the equipment from their own carelessness."

Yellow shook her head before looking at Platinum. "No. It was her. Turning us into stone, trying to steal your Pokédex, leading and prompting ShadowNet, preparing to strike while we deal with ShadowNet, it's all her. She has the single most powerful Pokémon in existence. And Darkrai too. While it's vastly overshadowed by Arceus, it's still a threat." Yellow looked at the Pokéballs containing the Legendary Pokémon. "… Okay, not a threat to these four, but to others."

Every Dex Holder looked over at Red and Green. Red crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he thought. Green ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"Everyone," he muttered. "… Take today off. Rest and recover. We have a hell of a day tomorrow. We leave Pallet Town at 7 am tomorrow. So rest up."

…

Two days later, August 22, Pallet Town…

…

Green looked at the gathered Dex Holders. According to Yellow, er… Lugia, the controlled Arceus still wasn't in the current dimension. So in case the initial 4-day counter from two days ago changed, Lugia would continuously scan for the unusual energy of Arceus and would alert Yellow if anything happened.

The odd sight of having a massive Legendary Pokémon parked on the roof of the lab for a few days straight would be very unnerving to the citizens of Pallet Town, but… … As long as no one bothered it, things would be fine.

Anyways, the showdown was approaching. Assuming no one was trying to take over/destroy the world after Storc, this would be the final battle. And Green didn't know if every Dex Holder could survive. It would be naïve to believe that everyone would survive.

The Dex Holders were ready, for sure. But they would need combat practice and mass teamwork. But Green couldn't decide on that. He was too well aware of the ongoing relationships (or attempts) between some of the Dex Holders. And he couldn't let anyone suffer the same fate he was experiencing. If Green got everyone to practice for the fight and something went wrong and a Dex Holder died, there would be another Dex Holder suffering the same loss as Green was experiencing. As Crystal and Black were experiencing. … Depending on who it was, anyways.

No. He couldn't let that happen. He wasn't sure whether practice would help all that much anyways. So he'd take Blue's advice. … Her last advice. He'd put personal matters first.

Green glanced at Black, who stared at White's Serperior in its Pokéball. The Gym Leader could see how much the Unova Dex Holder missed White. He glanced over at Crystal, who still held on to Gold's billiard cue while looking through the window. Red did talk to her a few times, and she wasn't staying crestfallen all day long, but she was still hurting.

And there was himself, but he didn't like thinking about it.

So he made his decision. And Crystal was probably going to hate him for it. But damn it, this had to be done.

"The final battle is coming," Green said after a long moment of silence. Every Dex Holder looked at him. "We don't know when Arceus would return. Lugia says it's still two days away, but it's possible that it might return sooner. We already lost too many friends, but it would be foolish to think that all of us would survive the oncoming battle. So I want all of you to… spend time with your loved ones. Tie every loose end, take care of any personal matters, but be ready to return here the moment Lugia detects Arceus."

Green glanced at Black. He didn't seem to have heard. Good. He then scanned the expressions on the other Dex Holders, holding off Crystal until the end. He was rather afraid to look at her. But he bit the bullet and looked over at her. And regretted his decision.

Crystal was staring at him in utter disbelief. She looked so betrayed, so pained, as if he had hit her across the face with Gold's billiard cue. As if he was literally rubbing Gold's death in her face. Which he wasn't. He didn't intend on reminding her that Gold had left her alone. Hopefully she would understand.

Crystal clenched her teeth and hands as she glared at Green. The Gym Leader looked away and slowly retreated to his room, where he'd find solace and solitude. The girl maintained her glare until he disappeared from sight, and then got Emerald to push her wheelchair out of the lab. She was going to need the natural breeze to calm herself down.

The Dex Holders scattered. Black went to sit in front of White's grave, Diamond took Platinum towards the pond/lake in southern Pallet Town, Pearl went to contact his father, Ruby took Sapphire to the medical room, Silver went to see his father in Viridian City, and Yellow dragged Red over to the Viridian Forest. Once everyone was gone, Green locked the door to his room and proceeded to listen to Blue's final message again and again.

…

Yellow took a brief look around the Viridian Forest. Red simply followed her, not knowing why she dragged him here. After a few minutes, Yellow stopped and turned to face him.

"Do you remember this place?" she asked all of a sudden.

"Huh?"

"Do you remember here?" Yellow repeated.

Red took a look around. "… Not really. Why?"

"This was where we first met," Yellow answered. "When you… saved me from that Dratini and helped me catch my first Pokémon."

Red blinked a few times. "Dratini… … There's been a LOT of Dratinis and a LOT of assistance for first Pokémon captures, but I think I remember. It's the only time those two events occurred at the same time in a forest. … That was you, huh?"

Yellow nodded. "How long has it been, Red? 10 years?"

"Something like that," Red said. "So we've known each other for quite some time."

Yellow looked down. The brim of her hat covered her eyes so Red couldn't see. "Yes… it's been a long time. And all that time, I wanted to tell you something. But I… never found the courage. I still can't muster enough courage, but… with the final battle coming, and what happened to Blue and White, I have to tell you now." She carefully looked up again and could see Red looking at her intently, waiting for her to continue. "… I love you, Red."

Red blinked. Before he could say anything, Yellow rushed up close to him and kissed him. A split second later, she broke off and started to run away. Red quickly caught her before she could get out of reach. With a smile, he gently pulled her close and kissed her too.

Yellow first looked very surprised and embarrassed, but those feelings soon melted away and were replaced by happiness. Even with the possible end-of-the-world coming, she didn't want anything to change.

…

"Damn, I can still taste blood," Sapphire grunted as she sat down on the bed. "At least it's faint now."

"But you're not going to cough up any more blood, are you?" Ruby asked with a worried expression.

"Why? Afraid that you might taste blood after you kiss me?" Sapphire taunted.

Ruby put on a serious expression. "You know that's the least of my concern." Sapphire didn't look convinced. "… Okay, it's not _the_ least, but it's nowhere near the most. Coughing up blood isn't normal. You could die from whatever's causing it."

Sapphire waved him off. "The doctors said that I'll be fine if I don't do anything overly strenuous. And considering how I took yesterday off too, unlike just about everyone else, I think I'll be okay for the big fight coming up."

"… Sapphire, it's best for you if you stay out of this fight," Ruby said quietly.

"The hell I will! This is my fight too! I won't be sidelined! Not again!" Sapphire quickly calmed down and smiled. "Thanks for the concern. But I'll be fine, as long as you stay right here."

"I'm not going anywhere," Ruby assured her. He gave her a quick kiss to the cheek and sat down next to her. "I'll make sure you get back to full health."

…

Diamond and Platinum arrived at the calm and serene lake/pond at southern Pallet Town. It wasn't as nice as Lake Verity, but it was still great.

"So, Lady," Diamond started nervously. He understood Green's intention, and aimed to take advantage of the given opportunity. "Are you doing okay?"

Platinum simply smiled as she sat down on the grass beside Diamond. She looked a little nervous as well, but not in the same sense as Diamond. "I suppose I am a little anxious about the upcoming battle."

Diamond risked it a little and held her hand. He was slightly bothered by the fact that the heiress was wearing fingerless gloves that were given by Red, but he was happy enough to know that he was close enough to her that he could hold her hand.

Platinum smiled again and took a deep breath as she looked at the calm lake. She was still oblivious to what was going to happen. Diamond took a nervous gulp.

"Lady, listen. I want to tell you something."

Platinum looked at him intently. "What is it?"

'_Okay, here goes…_' "I really like you."

The heiress didn't look surprised at all. "I know. You have told me this twice before. We are friends, Diamond. This is natural, is it not?"

Diamond took another nervous gulp. "No, Lady. What I mean is… I _love_ you."

Platinum gasped and stared at him in surprise. Diamond quickly took the opportunity to reach over and kiss her soft lips. The girl's eyes widened in shock and she didn't move. Diamond held his breath after pulling back to check her reaction.

Platinum finally blinked a few times in rapid succession and moved her hands over her mouth. Her eyes darted from left to right repeatedly as she thought. She appeared to be panicking. Diamond's heart fell as he realized that this was _not_ going where he had hoped.

The heiress tried to say something, but nothing came out. Instead, she simply rose to her feet and quickly walked away. Diamond tried to stop her, but he couldn't move. His third attempt at a confession resulted in a catastrophic failure… He stared at the calm lake in despair.

"… Damn it…"

* * *

><p><strong>Once again, ignore the game base stats. In the actual games, Darkrai will not really have a problem against the likes of Groudon. But ignore game balance. I'm merging the anime and manga style for Legendary clashes. Check my profile (MISC – Legendaries) for more detailspecking order.**

**And once again, ignore the Pokédex heights of Legendary Pokémon. I wouldn't be saying this in every chapter, but something tells me that if I forget to say it once, there will be someone who points it out. Even though the height issue was covered in the first half of SE AND is currently on my profile (MISC – Height).**

**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: Blue, Gold, White.**

**Note: the missing event in this chapter (August 21) will be mentioned later. It was removed to avoid spoilers for the future.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

"Yellow, why didn't you just get Lugia to use Psychic to carry you up to Groudon's height?" Emerald asked as he watched Yellow float down to the ground with the aid of her Butterfree.

Yellow blinked a few times before groaning. "… Damn you, hindsight!"


	36. SAI 4 Return to Sender

**The final part of the crossover Intermission is here! … So that final battle will have to wait, along with any and all possible terrible, terrible occurrences, whatever they may be. And the results of the catastrophic confession attempt of Diamond will also have to wait. Interesting to note that there were no negative comments about Platinum's actions last chapter. I was expecting at least a handful of "bitch" comments, but nope.**

**For those who noted, I do realize that Storc mentioned releasing Darkrai in DPPt arc. But given how SA's final battle plan was set prior to Platinum's name even being revealed and I didn't bother updating it with a different Pokémon, the Darkrai will remain in Storc's possession. Besides, it'll be a good opportunity to demonstrate (once again) that game stats won't be applied much. And yes, SA #032: Priority Shift was rushed through, and it's excessively short. But there's a reason for that (to be explained in SA #033). The reason may be viewed as evil or cruel.**

**And I also find it quite funny that in EVERY SA chapter after SA #028: Final Run, someone expresses relief that no one died. Heh. I guess that Triple Kill **_**really**_** made an impact. Also, this happens regardless of what the chapter is like. Happy chapters are apparently early compensation for upcoming doom (or a tool to make the doom seem doom-ier) and sad chapters are signals that said doom is very near. Interesting… Is this a desire for doom or what (not so hidden joke/hint here)?**

* * *

><p>Intermission Part 4: Return to Sender<p>

Somewhere in Johto, September 16…

"Damn it, this is taking forever. Yo, other dimension dude, how long does it normally take for those Team Rocket guys to find you?"

"I don't know. I never keep track between their appearances. They're never there when you look for them, for sure."

"… If you two stop shouting out our intentions, _perhaps_ we'd accomplish our goal much faster."

Gold, Crystal, and Satoshi were mindlessly searching throughout various routes of Johto, trying to find any trace of the Team Rocket trio that had been blasted by Satoshi's _brilliant_ move. And so far, they had absolutely no luck. With Crystal in the lead, Satoshi trailing behind, and with all of their flight-capable Pokémon searching from the skies, the group (Gold and Crystal, mostly) trudged onwards, hoping that they'd find the damn Rocket trio before they lose their minds.

Crystal glanced backwards and slowed down enough so that she'd be able to talk to Gold. "So, Gold. Sapphire's birthday is coming up. Are you getting her anything?"

Gold simply blinked. "It's her birthday coming up? Huh. I didn't know. But should I get her anything? Seeing how she literally kicked my ass, I don't think she particularly deserves a gift."

"Gold, you're her senior. Act like it."

"Well, what are you getting her, then?"

"I'm thinking of a romance novel. She'll like it. She may act all tough and such on the outside, but there are a few things she can't hide. It'll be hard finding a book typed entirely in a way that she can read, though. But maybe if she likes that book so much, she'll get into reading more and more books. I'm sure Platinum would like that a lot."

Gold shrugged. "Sure, why not. I'll just give her 4000 PKD or something."

"Considering how Platinum gave Red 200 000 PKD for his birthday, your gift would look like crap. Besides, she'd probably give Sapphire a lot of money too, if anything."

Gold shrugged again. "Well, I could just get her a bunch of berries or something, but what kind of gift is that? So I'll turn those berries into money. I'll give her enough money to buy 400 berries."

Crystal sighed and shook her head. "I guess I'll just hope that you'll do better for my birthday next year."

Gold grinned. "Oh, you _know_ I'll do better." He glanced backwards and spotted Satoshi still following with a blank look. "By the way, there's something I need to discuss with that guy in private. Do you mind leaving us alone for a bit?"

"Sure," Crystal replied without much thought. She called down her Xatu and got it ready to lift her up. "Call me when you're done with your discussion."

Once Crystal left with her Xatu, Gold looked over at Satoshi and signaled him closer. "Okay, now that Super Serious Gal is gone, there's something I need to ask you, man to boy."

…

Meanwhile, in Hoenn, Ruby crossed his arms as he watched Sapphire get fired up for their battle. Haruka just watched from beside Ruby. Ruby had his Swampert out and Sapphire had her Blaziken.

"Are you ready for this?" Sapphire asked.

Ruby sighed. "Why are you really doing this? While I was stronger than you at battling, over the years you constantly trained while I didn't, so you're probably stronger than me now. But you know that a Pokémon battle is not all about brute strength. You may be stronger than me, but I'm still better than you. So… why battle? You're just going to lose."

Sapphire's eyes twitched as she clenched her fists. "This is more than just a battle! This is about everything I had to go through! Oh, you think you can tell me what to do? You think you can tell me what to wear? You think that you're better than me? Well, you better get ready. You will bow to me when this is over! Here I go!"

"So… this is what, payback?" Ruby muttered. "Don't you think you can settle thi- Whoa!"

Sapphire had charged straight at Ruby and pounced on him before giving her Blaziken any orders. The Blaziken simply watched as its trainer proceeded to maul Ruby. The Swampert watched as well, wondering if it should risk itself to save its trainer. Normally, yes. But if it meant going against Sapphire… The two Pokémon glanced at each other and shrugged, wondering if this was actually going to become a Pokémon battle.

Haruka watched Sapphire maul Ruby without directly striking him. "… Okay, I guess this is like a marital fight in which I shouldn't get involved."

Sapphire stood up and glared at Ruby's Swampert. "You! Mud Bomb over there!" she yelled as she pointed a few meters away."

The Swampert nodded obediently and did as ordered. Sapphire dragged the dazed Ruby towards the created puddle of mud. Before Ruby knew what was happening, Sapphire buried him in the puddle of mud. She wiped her hands afterwards and turned her attention to Haruka.

"Now that the sissy is out of the way, let's battle. You and me, come on!"

"Um… no."

"I promise I'll go easy on you!"

"Still, no."

Sapphire clenched her teeth. "Come on, don't be a siss-"

"Muddy Water!"

Sapphire turned around at the sudden sound of Ruby's voice and immediately got engulfed by a mix of mud and water. Sapphire's Blaziken turned to glare at Ruby's Swampert for using the Muddy Water. Without warning, the Blaziken smacked the Swampert on the back of the head. The Swampert simply shrugged, indicating that it had no choice in this matter.

Sapphire jumped back to her feet and wiped the mud off of her face. She took one step towards Ruby and got another face full of mud. She steadily rotated her head a little and loosened the shoulder muscles.

"Oh, it's a mud-ball fight you want, eh?" She reached down and gathered a giant bomb of mud (and rocks). "You're on!"

Haruka watched Ruby and Sapphire fight and argue again. They bickered like children and really fought each other at times, but never did any _permanent_ damage on each other. Or any serious damage, for that matter. She proceeded to sit down on the nearest patch of mud-free grass and just watch the mud-ball fight. So this was a lover's quarrel, huh?

…

Meanwhile…

…

"So, you've spent a long time with various girls in your travels, huh?" Gold asked as he sat down on a large fallen log.

Satoshi sat on a large rock a meter or so away from the log. "Yeah, so?"

"And you don't feel anything about any of them?"

"Feel what?"

Gold thought for a second before he shook his head. "Never mind. I'll be a little blunt." He cleared his throat and after making sure Crystal wasn't anywhere in sight, he rested his arms against his knees and looked at Satoshi with a serious expression. "Now. Let's start with senior Blue. Do you notice anything about her? Anything that catches your attention?"

Satoshi thought for a second. A feat that Gold found surprising… "She has big…"

'_Well, son of a bitch!_' Gold muttered in his head.'_He CAN see th-_'

"Strong Pokémon? That Blastoise looked really powerful. Beyond that, I don't know."

'… _Guess not._' Gold let out a short sigh. But it was far from over. "Okay then… Super Serious Gal. What about her?" Again, he took a brief scan of the surroundings to make sure the girl in question wasn't remotely nearby.

"She can kick a Pokéball pretty hard. A Pokémon capture professional, huh?"

"No, I don't mean her occupation or Pokémon. I'm talking about the girl herself," Gold clarified. "Have you ever… _looked_ at her?"

Satoshi appeared quite confused. "Well, obviously I saw her, but I don't know what you mean."

"What about Wildchild Girl?"

"Sharp teeth."

"Proto-Gal?"

"Scary eyes."

"_That's_ the first thi-… … … Bossy Gal?"

"Big and long hair."

"… Senior Yellow?"

"Long hair. And kind of short."

'_Yes, because __**you're**__ so tall… You're almost as short as Proto-Gal, for crying out loud_…' "You don't think _any_ of them are pretty or cute?" Gold asked in disbelief.

"I don't know. Haruka and Hikari constantly call themselves cute and pretty, but I really don't know."

'_Oh, you stupid son of a…_' "… Okay then, let's try the ones you traveled with," Gold said with a sigh. "What's her name… Hikari. Have you ever noticed how short her skirt is?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Have you ever seen up it?" Gold asked, being more and more blunt to get through the tough 'defenses' in the form of sheer stupidity/blindness. "For example… did she ever trip while walking in front of you, and you had a clear view?"

"… No, should I have?" Satoshi asked, still unclear as to what Gold was asking. "If she trips, I'll just help her back up."

"When she's in that cheerleading outfit and starts… performing, do you ever look at her?"

"No, because I'm trying to win a Gym Battle."

Gold slightly shook his head. "Moving on! What's her name… Haruka. Have you ever… _looked_ at her when she's swimming with you, or in a hot spring?"

"Of course I see her when I talk to her, but I don't know what you're asking," Satoshi answered. "Though I always wondered why Haruka wanted me to see her in those times."

"And you never felt anything unusual?"

"No. This whole series of questions kind of remind me of what Haruka asked me a long time ago."

'… _Bloody hell…_' "Okay. Picture Haruka in your head."

"Okay."

"Now, don't you think, when compared to other girls, she has big…" Gold said, prompting Satoshi to finish his sentence.

"… Ego? Dreams?"

"No, big boo…" Gold prompted again.

"… Boots? That's Hikari. I thought we were talking about Haruka."

"No, you stupid bastard!" Gold yelled. He even used his hands to _demonstrate_ what he was referring to. "She has big b-" However, he was unable to finish _explaining_, as a sudden sharp pain burst from the back of his head, forcing him to topple over. "Ow! What the hell?!" He looked backwards and spotted Crystal with her hands on her hips, absolutely fuming. Her face was completely red from embarrassment.

"Gold!" she screamed. "Is _that_ what you had to discuss with him?!"

"It was very important!"

"Why you dir-"

"It didn't work though!" Gold said as he got back up. "This kid's as blind as Proto-Gal. Even worse, actually. It's like… the result of the magnitude of Proto-Gal's and senior Red's blindness and obliviousness multiplied together, if that makes any sense. It's as frustrating as talking while facing a huge, tall wall that's just an inch away from your face."

Crystal's anger dissipated and a look of disbelief appeared on her face. "… Seriously?"

"This idiot doesn't even notice anything about you!"

"What?" She looked over at Satoshi, who still appeared confused. "You don't think I look attra… Wait, forget I said anything."

Gold grinned. He put an arm around Crystal's shoulder, much to her surprise. She quickly looked away while her cheeks flushed. "So you know that you're attractive, huh? And I guess no one ever said it to you except me?"

"Shut it, Gold…"

"Aw, come on, Super Serious Gal," Gold teased, practically whispering in her ear. "I know you like it."

Without warning, Crystal slammed her right heel into Gold's shin, forcing him to back off. "Anyways! We have some important business to take care of. That Team Rocket group isn't going to capture itself. We'll lure them out!" She looked over at Satoshi, who still had a blank expression on his face. "You! Have your Pikachu on your shoulder and just walk in a straight line. Don't look back and just walk straight. We'll do the rest."

…

Meanwhile, in Sinnoh, Diamond returned after talking to and comforting Hikari. Platinum remained standing where she was, looking down at the ground, lost in deep thought. She only looked up when Diamond's feet came into her sight.

Diamond didn't say anything. He simply looked into her eyes, waiting for her to say something. Platinum let out a sigh.

"Diamond… I apologize for how I acted. Will you forgive me?"

Diamond didn't smile or change his expression. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to, Lady. As such, I'm not the one who can forgive you. Lady, … _sis_ is a guest in this dimension. I image you don't treat guests to your mansion like this. She won't be staying here forever, and we probably won't get to see her ever again after she returns home. It's only fair we treat her warmly."

Platinum looked down in shame again and slowly nodded. "I know… I will go and apologize personally." She started to look up at him again, but immediately stopped, as if she was afraid to look at him. "… Do you… hate me for how I acted?"

Diamond hesitated a little. "I admit I was disappointed. But I don't hate you. I'll never hate you. I was disappointed because it appeared that you still treat us all like some commoners. I really thought you changed." He examined her expression and smiled warmly. "If you're worried that I might treat you differently, you don't have to worry. I'm still your friend, Lady. I always will be."

The heiress looked up just a little and gave him a faint smile. "… Thank you."

Soon, Platinum went over to apologize to her lookalike. She had to suck up her pride for this. But at least this Hikari seemed nice enough to not make a big deal about this…

…

3 days later…

…

All the "guests" and the Dex Holders gathered in the ShadowNet building as the portal generator neared completion. To help with the reconstruction, a ShadowNet scientist was temporarily recruited. The moment the generator was properly fixed, his imprisonment duration would be greatly reduced.

The ShadowNet scientist pressed a button and the portal generator powered up. He checked over the coordinates and nodded to the Dex Holders.

"Alright, so the device is set," Green said. "Now to check if the coordinates are correct." He proceeded to drag one of the captured Rocket trio and shoved the top half of his body through the portal for a few seconds before pulling him back. "Well?"

"It seemed like our dimension," the Rocket member replied.

"Good."

Green simply tossed the Rocket member through the portal. The other Dex Holders did the same for the remaining two. Once the Rocket members were taken care of, Haruka stepped towards the portal. She looked over at Ruby and Sapphire.

"It was nice to meet you," she said. "I think this has been a good experience." She extended a hand and Ruby shook it. Sapphire thought for a second before shaking her hand as well. "Good bye, Ruby and Sapphire. Maybe we can meet again someday."

Ruby nodded. "Well, good bye, uh… sis."

Haruka waved at everyone else before stepping through the portal. Once she was gone, Hikari moved up.

"I don't want to sound repetitive," she muttered as she looked over at Diamond. "But it was great to meet you, Dia. I hope we can meet again. You two, Lady Platinum."

The two Sinnoh Dex Holders nodded and shook hands with the guest. Hikari waved at everyone else with both hands and after a short bow, walked through the portal.

Takeshi came up next. He immediately faced Blue, who narrowed her eyes and shook her head. Silver cleared his throat, indicating that he was right there. Green simply shoved Takeshi through the portal, leaving only one guest still in the dimension.

"Alright kid, time for you to go home," Gold said as he crossed his arms.

Satoshi looked around at all the Dex Holders. "I don't want to go home," he said. "I want to stay here and train with you. You guys are all so strong… I want to become much stronger!"

"Go home," Green said as he stepped in front of Satoshi. "Your friends and family would want you in their dimension."

Satoshi glanced at the portal. "… Well yeah, but… can't I train with you guys just a little?"

Green let out a sigh. "Tell you what. If you go home, I'll follow you and train you there. How's that?"

Satoshi beamed in joy. "Really? Awesome! Thanks a lot! Okay, I'll see you there!"

With an excited jump, he ran through the portal. Green calmly headed over towards the command prompt of the portal generator and simply shut down the portal.

"Idiot…" he muttered as he watched the portal fade away. He then turned to face the other Dex Holders. "Alright, people. Break's over. ShadowNet's still out there. They may have been severely weakened, but they're not completely gone. So our job's not over. So let's get to it!"

As the Dex Holders filed out of the ShadowNet building's armory, Crystal glanced at the portal generator. Admittedly, it was an interesting few days with the guests. But more importantly, it interested her to think of all the possible technological improvements some of the lab equipment back in Pallet Town could use from the portal generator. She took a few steps towards the portal generator to get a last look at the active command prompt. The portal may have been closed, but the prompt was still active, waiting for commands. Crystal studied some of the codes visible, in case they could turn out to be useful. But something caught her eye…

She simply stared at the command prompt of the inter-dimensional portal device. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that the destination coordinates for Haruka, Hikari, and Takeshi were different than the ones for Satoshi. Was it possible that Satoshi went into a completely different dimension all alone? Did a Dex Holder secretly change the coordinates while no one was looking?

Nah.

Crystal shook her head and followed the other Dex Holders out. She trusted them. Unless the machine changed on its own, there was no way that a Dex Holder would pull off a 'prank' like that…

…

Meanwhile, … somewhere…

…

Satoshi looked up at the dark sky and spotted 6 large figures attacking each other. Upon closer look, he recognized them as Legendary Pokémon. Three he knew. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. The other three weren't familiar. They were Reshiram, Zekrom, and Kyurem, but he wouldn't know.

The fighting continued. A missed meteor from Dialga's Draco Meteor crashed into the ground close enough to almost knock Satoshi off his feet. He glanced around, worried about his friends for a second. He soon realized that he was all alone. Haruka and Hikari weren't in his sight range.

After regaining balance, he looked up at the 6 Legendary Dragons. "HEY! STOP FIGHTING!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. The 6 Legendary Dragons paid absolutely no attention to him. So Satoshi moved on to his next plan. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

The Thunderbolt hit all 6 Dragons, but did no damage. The 6 Legendary Dragons stopped fighting and all glared down at the interference.

"Stop fighting! You'll only destroy each other, you idiots!" Satoshi yelled again, realizing that he was now the center of attention.

The 6 Dragons glanced at each other before moving to deal with the interference…

* * *

><p><strong>Oh yes, once again, SA-Intermission series' character fates are unrelated to that of the actual SA. Note that Blue and Gold are still alive. And White too. And Generation V of the anime will not have happened for SA-Intermission, which is why the idiot doesn't recognize the Unova Dragons.<strong>

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

"So Gold, I noticed that you referred to him as "kid" even though he's older than you," Crystal commented.

"Well, he sure doesn't act like it," Gold replied. "Maybe he's cursed with eternal youth or something."

"Other than watching everyone else die, why would eternal youth be a curse?" Crystal asked.

"Well… you know. Eternal youth. Body doesn't change, so body doesn't grow, so _brains_ don't change, so you never learn anything, and you never notice _anything_ about the opposite gender because your _body_ doesn't change, ever."

"Ouch. That's just… horrible."

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks to horrible planning for this intermission series, several ideas for the crossover got lost. Had the series been longer than 4 chapters, these would have been explored, but sadly (or thankfully), there isn't enough space. So, I will list the "Lost Moments" below. And I mean a literal "list".<strong>

* * *

><p>Lost Moments:<p>

- Sapphire and Haruka force Ruby to buy them lunch. Platinum arrives just in time to save him from bankruptcy

- Sapphire and Platinum meet to discuss their similar situations, namely having their crush/loved one 'stolen' by their lookalikes who both happen to be the boys' older 'sisters' from the different dimension

- Platinum declares war against Hikari, challenging her to a Contest battle, regular battle, speed quiz, and others, and wins every time

- Gold attempts to get Satoshi to have a relationship with either Haruka or Hikari, with both plans failing, but succeeding in making the boy make an ass of himself

- Satoshi attempts retribution by beating a random Dex Holder in battle but loses his first battle to White

- Satoshi attempts to make up for his losses by beating the Dex Holders in a double battle, but get thrashed by Ruby and Sapphire when he teamed up with Haruka, by Gold and Crystal when teamed up with Takeshi, and by Diamond and Platinum when teamed up with Hikari


	37. Home Field Advantage

**Now that the Intermission scenes are all out of the way, nothing will stall SA anymore!**

**And here is the chapter that was originally one chapter along with SA #032: Priority Shift.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 33: Home Field Advantage<p>

August 22, Pallet Town, 2 pm…

Platinum kept walking. She didn't look back and just kept walking straight as fast as she could manage. She didn't know what else she could do. Her mind was filled with so many thoughts, she couldn't focus on anything. She needed time to calm down and sort out the chaos.

… Diamond loved her? … _Diamond_ loved her? All this time she knew him… he loved her?

'_He loves me? … How could that be possible? I thought he was a good friend… but does this mean he did not think of me as a friend? … Was he only being nice to me because he loved me? But… does that mean he will no longer be nice to me if he does not love me?_' Platinum pressed her hands onto her temples and shook her head. But she couldn't fight off the waves of panicked thoughts. '_Does this mean everyone who was being nice to me also love me? … Pearl? … Senior Red? … … Senior Sapphire? N – No! No! This is insane! Irrational! But… how do I know? Why did I not realize that Diamond loved me? Was I blind? Or do everyone really love me? And who do I love? What __**is**__ love? Do I love everyone who I care about? Ah, this is all so illogical and crazy… I – I need help!_'

Platinum soon arrived back at the lab. Before she opened the door, she looked back at where Diamond had taken her. She felt so sorry for him… for walking out on him like that. But she really had no clue what to do or say in her current situation. She panicked. And now she broke his heart. But surely that broken heart could be easily mended together, right?

"Oh, I am such an idiot," the heiress muttered as she hit her head against the door. Or she tried to, but her RLS system repelled the hit. Sometimes, that shield system was _really_ inconvenient.

The heiress entered the lab and quickly isolated herself to a dark room. Okay, she needed to discuss this issue with someone. Someone who knows about love and has some experience with it. Because she couldn't make heads or tails of this situation by herself. Blue was obviously the best candidate, but she was gone.

Preferably, she should get help from a female Dex Holder. With Blue and White dead, there weren't exactly a lot of options.

Platinum sighed and pressed her hands against her temples again. Her fingers were icy cold now from anxiety and sheer panic. Her toes were probably in the same state, but currently, her nervous system seemed to be out of whack. This all felt like a dream… The world felt like it was spinning… which it kind of was, physically. She felt dizzy. So dizzy. And her vision was starting to blur. She shook her head to try to make her vision perfectly clear. But it didn't really help.

Again, the heiress shook her head and forced herself to leave the dark room. She stumbled forward, not knowing who exactly she should talk to.

Before she realized what was happening, she found Crystal through the windows. The Johto Dex Holder was still seated on her wheelchair, staring at the horizon. Platinum looked at her for a second before she made her way towards her. In her panicked mind, she came to the conclusion that Crystal would be the most helpful, as she was experienced with love.

Crystal snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone approach. She looked to her left and spotted Platinum walking/staggering towards her. With a sigh, the Johto Dex Holder signaled Emerald to turn the wheelchair so that she could face the heiress.

"What do you want, Platinum?" she asked the moment the heiress came close.

"Senior Crystal, I… really need help."

"What is it?"

Platinum took a few deep breaths before speaking. "Diamond… said he loves me. I… I really do not know what to make of it, senior. How do you know if you are in love? And how do you know tell the difference between someone who loves you and someone who simply likes you as a friend?"

Crystal simply stared at her junior in disbelief. Now even Platinum was going to rub it in her face? First Green, now Platinum. Who's next? Red?

The Johto girl's stare rapidly changed into a glare as she gritted her teeth. Platinum realized her mistake when Crystal started to tremble in anger.

"How dare you…" she muttered out, her good fist turning pale from being clenched so hard.

"Ah, s – senior, I am so terribly sorry," Platinum quickly stammered out. "I – I did not intend to-"

Crystal didn't let her continue. "You dare remind me of _him_ too? Oh, you're loved by Diamond? Good for you! You don't have to rub it in my face, damn it!"

"S – Senior…"

"Shut up! So what the hell are you doing here, huh? You want some tips on possible date locations? Well guess what? I don't care! Just take him and get out of my sight!"

"Senior, I… I…" Platinum couldn't continue as Crystal maintained her deadly glare. The heiress trembled in terror as she slightly backed away from the infuriated Johto Dex Holder.

"Well? Get out of here!" Crystal screamed out again. Platinum remained frozen, so she threw Gold's billiard cue at her, which harmlessly bounced off the RLS system. "Get out!"

Platinum quickly bowed to her senior and fled, making sure to avoid looking in her direction at all. Crystal maintained her glare at Platinum until she scurried away back into the lab. Only then did she let out a long frustrated sigh.

"Damn it…"

Emerald quietly picked up Gold's billiard cue with his Magic Hand Extensor and held it in front of Crystal. The girl stared at the cue as tears welled in her eyes.

"Damn it, Gold…" she muttered. "Look what you made me become…" She closed her eyes and could see Platinum's terrified expression. For the first time since the two girls have met, the heiress was actually afraid of her. And it was because of irrational anger. "Damn it… Platinum, I'm so sorry…" Crystal took Gold's billiard cue and stared at it. "Gold… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… but… I have to move on… This… this can't continue."

Crystal ordered Emerald to push her wheelchair towards Gold's grave in the backyard of the lab. When she arrived, she forced herself off of the wheelchair for the first time in days and approached the grave. She stared at the billiard cue with tears in her eyes. With a long sigh, she kissed the billiard cue and carefully placed it in front of the grave before returning to her seat. Just like Red said, she had to move on. At least for the duration of the final battle.

Crystal looked down in shame. Red had talked to her about this already. And she was acting like this again. She wasn't the only one experiencing a loss. But she was the only one moping about it all day long. Well, she didn't want to, but she kept getting reminded of Gold's death and she kept reacting badly. The Kanto champion said that she was being cold to her juniors now. And it was true. Platinum had come to ask her for help and she screamed at her to go away. And she couldn't believe it.

She knew she had to apologize to Platinum. Definitely. But first, there was a more pressing issue. Someone else she had to comfort first.

"Emerald," Crystal started. "I'm sorry for how I've been acting. I know I've been cold to you too. And I'm sorry. I promise I'll change from this point on."

"It's okay," the Hoenn Dex Holder said. "No matter what happens, you know I'll help you."

"Thanks, Emerald." Crystal let out a long sigh. Now to move on to the _real_ pressing issue. "… Emerald, take me to Green right now. What we're going through… this can't continue."

Emerald obeyed the order and gently pushed Crystal's wheelchair once more. Crystal kept her eyes closed for the ride. She had to think about what she was going to say and how she was going to approach this problem. Whether she succeeded in her plan or not would determine how well the Dex Holders fared in the final battle, so she had to make sure she successfully calmed Green. At all costs.

Meanwhile, Platinum kept running. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe she was so stupid. Of course Crystal was going to react badly… She quickly ran back into the dark room and locked herself in. With a groan, she sat down on the floor and leaned against the door, with her hands pressed against her temples. The heiress berated herself for being stupid and sincerely hoped that Crystal would calm down on her own. Until then, Platinum was going to remain hiding in the dark room.

The outside world was certainly scary. And she kept making these mistakes. When Platinum first met her seniors in Red's birthday party, she made a series of mistakes that made her want to go back home and hide. And now, exactly two weeks later, here she was again, hiding in yet another dark room, trying her absolute best to avoid Crystal, Diamond, and Pearl.

…

Next day, August 23, 9 am…

…

Platinum woke up from her sleep and immediately noticed that she was still seated right in front of the door to her hiding place. It seemed that she had fallen asleep while trying to sort out the chaos in her mind… somehow. She checked her Pokégear. There were no messages.

She rose to her feet and carefully opened the door. She peeked out first to make sure no one was nearby before making her way outside. Hopefully Crystal had calmed down by now. If not, Platinum would avoid her like she was avoiding Diamond and Pearl. She probably had to avoid Emerald too, as he was always in close proximity to Crystal.

Platinum exited the lab as quietly as she could manage. She still needed help with her problem. And right now, there was only one person she felt comfortable talking to.

Within a couple of minutes, the heiress stood in front of Red's house. Finding the house wasn't really a problem. All she had to do was look for the house that had a massive Legendary Pokémon perched right outside, staring at the sky with unblinking eyes. The Lugia sensed her approaching and looked down at her. The heiress gave it a friendly wave and hoped that she didn't offend it. The Diving Pokémon looked back up at the sky, and Platinum was able to reach the front door. After a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down, she knocked on the door, hoping that the Kanto champion was awake. If not, she'll wait an hour before trying again. To her surprise, the door opened and Yellow appeared in the doorway.

"Hi, Platinum," she said with a warm smile.

Platinum bowed. "Good morning, senior Yellow. May I come in?"

"Of course."

Inside, Platinum spotted Red sitting at the dinner table, drinking a glass of water while staring at a sheet of paper. The Kanto champion looked up and gave the heiress a warm smile.

"Hey, Platinum. What's up?"

The girl bowed again and sat at an empty seat. "Senior… I came because I need your help."

"What is it?"

Platinum sighed and took another couple of deep breaths. "… Diamond… came to me yesterday and said that he… loved me."

"That's great," Yellow said happily. "So, what did you say to him?"

Platinum looked down in shame. "I… I did not say anything. I panicked and… left."

"… Oh…"

The heiress risked a glance at Red and Yellow. The two Kanto Dex Holders appeared to be sympathetic, not angry.

"I panicked because… I did not anticipate what he said. I thought he was a good friend, and I wondered if he was only nice to me because he loved me. And… I wondered if everyone who was nice to me also loved me. Pearl came to mind… and… you, senior Red."

Red blinked a couple of times. "I… see…"

"… Senior Red, senior Yellow, … how do you know if you love someone? And how can you tell the difference between someone who loves you and someone who simply likes you as a friend?"

"You're asking the wrong guy for that second question. I didn't even know Yellow loved me and I knew her for 10 years."

Yellow smiled and put a hand on Platinum's shoulder. "It's not that complicated, really."

Platinum looked up at Yellow, quite comforted by the Kanto Dex Holder's warm smile. She listened attentively as Yellow began to explain.

…

An hour later…

…

Yellow trailed off when Lugia outside the house let out an earth-shaking screech. She quickly looked through the window. The Diving Pokémon turned to look at her.

"It's time," Yellow muttered.

Red stood up. "Well then, let's alert the others." He glanced at Platinum. "You feeling okay now?"

The heiress nodded. "Yes, senior. Thank you."

…

All 10 Dex Holders gathered in Prof. Oak's lab once more. Platinum avoided looking in Diamond, Pearl, or Crystal's directions at all costs and kept her eyes on the floor. Red sat beside her, acting as a visual barricade of sorts that hid the heiress from the Dex Holders she was trying to avoid.

"What's the point of entry?" Green asked.

"Lugia says Arceus's energy has been detected near the quarantined Solaceon Town of Sinnoh," Yellow answered. "I think it's possible that Storc intends to destroy the regions one at a time and move on."

"We'll stop her at Solaceon then," Green said. "Alright people, we're moving. But first, make sure you all have your headsets ready. The battle is going to be big and we'll need to be able to communicate with each other." He looked over at Crystal as he continued talking. "And Crystal, you'll take command for this battle."

Crystal almost jumped in surprise. A lot of the other Dex Holders looked surprised too.

"What? Why?" Crystal asked. "What about you?"

"I'm going into the battlefield," Green answered. "I need to fight alongside everyone else."

Crystal pushed her wheelchair by the wheels to approach Green. "Green… something tells me you're going to try to… _join_ Blue in this battle."

Green didn't say anything as he stared at Crystal with his emotionless eyes. "… That's none of your concern."

"Please," Crystal said. "Don't do anything reckless. You're not responsible for her death. We all need you, Green. _I_ need you. Please. You have to take command, or none of us might make it out alive."

Green stared at Crystal intently, but didn't immediately reply. The girl waited for his response, but she already knew that he was going to accept…

"Crystal," Green said abruptly. "You can't stop me."

… or not…

"… Huh?"

Green looked angry now. His eyes contained icy fury that no one had ever seen before. "You don't know what I'm going through. You _think_ you know. But you don't. You think I'm like this just because Blue died? No… If I had nothing to do with her death, I wouldn't be like this." Green closed his eyes for a second before he continued his deadly glare. "_None_ of you know that Blue and I had a fight the night before she died! She said to me, right there and then, that I wouldn't come to her rescue when she needed help. She said that I didn't care about her enough to save her in time. The next morning, when I went to save her, I received her fifth automated message 5 minutes before I found her body. Given her final message, Blue died just 3 minutes before that fifth message was sent to me. I got to her less than 10 minutes too late. And you think you know how I feel?"

"Green… I…" Crystal muttered. "… You didn't tell me this yesterday…"

"Because you didn't need to know. But you keep telling me that I couldn't have stopped Blue's death. You keep telling me I need to stay rational." Green let out a frustrated sigh before glaring at Crystal. "But look how _you've_ been acting! Sure, Gold might have sacrificed himself because of what he did to you, but Blue died because of what _I_ did to _her_! So don't you _dare_ try to tell me what I should or should not feel, or what I can or cannot do in this fight! You're in command of everyone else! Deal with it!"

None of the other Dex Holders said anything. Or even budge. Only an uncomfortable silence filled the lab, as no one has ever heard the Viridian Gym Leader yell like that. Not even Red, who knew him longer than anyone else. Green let out a long sigh and quickly calmed his anger. He put a hand on Crystal's shoulder in an effort to get her to relax. She was still completely frozen up, though, and was barely breathing out of sheer terror and surprise.

"… You'll do fine. It's for your own good. You can't physically fight this battle. And you have to get used to taking command some day."

Green glanced at the other Dex Holders before headed outside. The others followed him one by one, but very slowly.

"And that," Red started. "Is why I told you to watch your own behavior, Crys."

He let out a short sigh before he slowly left the lab. Yellow and Platinum followed him, with the former casting a worried glance at Crystal. Emerald was the only Dex Holder to not leave. He approached Crystal and put his hands on her shoulders.

Crystal buried her face into her hands as she thought about her actions yet again. "… I can't believe it… all this time…"

"Are you okay?"

Crystal sighed and slowly pulled her face from her hands. "… There is only one thing I can do to get over this shame. Only one…" She looked over at Emerald. "… If I have to take command of everyone else, then I have to make sure everyone survives this. I owe them that. But it's impossible for me to come up with a full plan right now. So Emerald, during the battle, I want you to give me routine status updates. I need to know what's going on if I am to help everyone."

"No problem."

…

Outside, Platinum approached Red as the Kanto champion prepared to leave. Sapphire was there as well, as she had to talk to Red too.

"Alright Sapphire, Platinum," Red started. "Are you ready to end this?"

The two girls looked at each other before nodding to Red. "Yes. We are."

"Good."

Sapphire spoke first. "Red, I want you to know… No matter what happens in that final battle…"

"It has been such an honor to fight alongside you," Platinum finished. "We are very proud and honored to be your juniors."

Red smiled and patted both of them on the shoulder. "Don't talk as if we're all going to die, though."

"Even if we die," Sapphire said. "We have no regrets. There's no shame in death while facing a big enemy in glorious battle."

"…"

Platinum looked serious though. "And senior… I would just like to thank you… for everything. And especially for stopping me from… killing myself several days ago. If you did not stop me, I would have been put to shame far more than I could imagine. My death would have been shameful then. But… if I were to die today, I will be able to do so proudly."

"No problem. … Now let's stop talking about death and dying. Let's just get going. We got some evil ass to kick."

…

An hour later, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh…

…

Crystal hesitated before she reached to everyone using her headset. She wasn't used to giving orders to everyone in battle, but as Green said, she had to get used to these things. And she also had to make up to everyone for acting the way she has for the past few days.

"Okay… Um… Yellow, you're on medic duty. Do you think you can handle that? I imagine it will be very difficult for you to use your powers so much."

"I'll be okay, Crystal."

"Okay. Um… Sapphire, you'll attack from the east. Ruby, from the west. Everyone else, if you can utilize Kyogre's Drizzle to your advantage, stay in the east side. If you can take advantage of Groudon's Drought, stay in the west. If you can't really use either, you do precision strikes. Hit where the infected Unown cluster, because whatever Storc plans for them can't be good. Emerald, you're on recon and chaff duty. Pay close attention to that Darkrai Storc has, and more importantly, where it's aiming Dark Void. Neutralize that attack at all costs."

"Incoming!" Yellow yelled out.

The sky above Solaceon Town seemingly glowed white as a portal ripped into existence high above. A giant ball of infected Unown came through the portal, along with thousands of non-clustered infected Unown. At the very end, a Starmie floated through the portal, with Storc riding on top.

Storc seemed slightly surprised to see all the Dex Holders gathered, but didn't seem to be bothered by that fact.

"In one fell swoop," she muttered with a smile.

"Alright! Prepare to fight!" Crystal said through the headsets.

The Dex Holders all took out their Ultra Balls and prepared for the battle when the skies started to distort. 3 more portals appeared around the controlled Arceus. The portal to its bottom left was blue, the one to its bottom right was pink, and the one on top was gray. The blue portal suddenly widened and a single Pokémon came out, glowing eerie dark blue as it hovered beside the controlled Arceus. The pink portal did the same and a Pokémon glowing dark pink appeared as well. The gray portal widened and another Pokémon came out, this one not glowing any color.

Storc laughed while the Dex Holders simply stared in shock. So it seemed that they had to face not only the controlled Arceus, but Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina as well. So that was why Arceus had to go into another dimension for all this time…

* * *

><p><strong>The final battle starts! … … Well, it has been approaching for some time. And I admit I've been stalling as much as possible. Can't stall anymore though, can I?<strong>

**And if you want to see Crystal's talk with Green, go read SE #038: After Image. More or less the same.**

**Below is the alternate line I could've used this chapter for a bit of referencing/humor.**

* * *

><p>Alternate Lines:<p>

"Slipspace signatures detected!" Yellow yelled out.

Crystal looked over at Yellow. "… What?"

Suddenly, the skies over Solaceon seemingly glowed white as a massive pulse of energy swept over the land, emanating from a single point of entry in the sky. The energy pulse was enough to knock all the Dex Holders to the ground and force some weakened buildings to collapse.

"What the hell just happened?!" Red asked as he coughed through the dust clouds.

"Slipspace rupture! It must've weakened the support rails!" Yellow answered.

"… The hell are you talking about?!"

* * *

><p><strong>Well, the rupture generally happens as the thing is <strong>_**leaving**_** in atmosphere, but… whatever.**

**Current Dex Holder KIA/MIA list: Blue, Gold, White.**

**Oh, I assume not a lot of people noticed, but new poll on my profile page. Nothing hidden, just a survey. Deals with that KIA list right above. And don't worry, I haven't forgotten that "secret poll" effect from far back (Favorite 4****th**** Generation Dex Holder). The effects will be revealed at the same time as that "doom" joke from the last intermission chapter.**

**The poll was made because of various responses/results of that (in)famous Triple Kill in SA #028: Final Run. Some viewers were… pissed and demanded revivals. Some seemed okay with the deaths. Others didn't look like they gave a rat's ass. Hence the poll options.**

**Should the dead Dex Holders be revived?**

**Yes, as Dex Holders never die. They're just missing in action. Main characters never die, damn it! … Ignore all those video games in which every main character dies.**

**No, because you called down the thunder and you have now met the whirlwind, so you should just deal with it. You also partially expect a nuclear strike coming soon.**

**Maybe, because you have no strong feelings one way or the other. Revive the Dex Holders! … Or don't.**

**This chapter was split from SA #032: Priority Shift because… well, because of Intermission Part 4. That thing had to come up at some point, and if it didn't pop up at the last chapter, there would have been no suitable alternatives. More explanations at the next chapter.**


	38. SASI Full Contact Safari

**So far the current poll seems to be… exactly as I thought it'd turn out. Majority wants revivals, small number wants the dead to stay dead, and quite a few can't decide or are feeling overwhelming indifference.**

**But regardless… The final battle starts!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 34: Full Circle (Part 1)<p>

August 23, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh, 12 pm…

The Dex Holders all stared at the controlled Arceus and the created copies of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina hovering high above the ground.

So this was a battle against 4 Legendary Pokémon.

Storc sent out Darkrai to join the battle.

… _5_ Legendary Pokémon.

And if two Legendary Pokémon on the scale of Groudon and Kyogre were able to cause so much destruction, then 3 of equal strength, 1 of lesser, and 1 of vastly superior put together will cause absolute destruction.

Red smiled. This was going to be a challenge. But the Dex Holders didn't temporarily capture various Legendary Pokémon for nothing.

"Let's do it!"

The Dex Holders threw their Ultra Balls and borrowed Pokéballs to send out #$%!# #^%

DATA CORRUPTED

…

* * *

><p><strong>Ah, I'm just kidding. I lied when I said that nothing could stall SA anymore. "Can't stall anymore though, can I?" (from last chapter)… the hell I can't!<strong>

**Here comes the **_**special**_** intermission! SA-SI (SA Special Intermission) is here instead! I said the missing event from SA #032: Priority Shift was going to occur eventually, didn't I? And I do recall saying something about a 5****th**** intermission. So remember, this is before Diamond's catastrophic confession attempt.**

… **What? Don't look at me like that! If you read SL at all (and all the evilness) you'd know that I was going to stall again no matter what. Some of you already call me an evil monster. I'll try to live up to that.**

* * *

><p>Special Intermission: Full Contact Safari<p>

August 21, Pallet Town, Kanto…

Red and Green stared at the battle plan they came up with. It was… rough at best, considering all they knew were what they were fighting, and who was fighting them with what. Without knowing _where_ they were going to fight, the plan wasn't going to be a guaranteed success. And knowing the amount of power they could draw out, the battle would be swift and destructive.

"So I imagine this isn't our genius plan," Red said. "If it is… it's been nice knowing you."

"We'll need additional help to compensate for the lost Dex Holders and to match Arceus. I think it's time we utilize the unfair advantage the Dex Holders had when compared to everyone else."

"… Use our Pokédex?"

"No."

"… Then what?"

Green let out a sigh. "Red… how many people do you know, apart from other Dex Holders, who have even _heard_ about Mew? Or Deoxys?"

"… Good point."

"The Dex Holders have an unfair advantage over most others because we get to see all sorts of Legendary Pokémon. We already have four temporarily captured. One is standing right outside your house, scaring the crap out of occasional travelers."

"I see your point."

"Face it. We'll need the power of other Legendary Pokémon. Storc has Darkrai and Arceus. While Lugia and Ho-oh will have no problem against Darkrai, the Arceus is the problem. You've seen how Raikou, Entei, and Suicune put together were still no match against Ho-oh. We have to assume the power gap is even greater for Arceus. We need more help."

Red nodded. "I know what you mean. As Dex Holders, we did… bond with quite a few Legendary Pokémon. We'll get their help."

"We need your bloodline."

Red blinked. "Come again?"

"Deoxys, Red. We need it," Green said. "Well, we need _them_, assuming the other Deoxys individual was ever found." He rose to his feet and prepared to leave for somewhere. "Spread the word and find the Deoxys, Red. I'm going to catch the Legendary Pokémon Blue had captured at one point."

When Green left, Red reached to his headset and ordered everyone to gather. He entered the main area of the lab and spotted everyone there.

"Alright, listen up. Right now, we're all screwed if we try to take on Arceus. We'll need more assistance. And by assistance, I mean Legendary assistance. So, when I call your name, head over to Sabrina in Saffron City and have her Teleport you to where you need to go in order to capture the Legendary Pokémon I tell you. I will call out your names in no particular order."

"Alright, bring it on!" Sapphire said as she forced herself up.

Red called out the names of the Dex Holders one by one. And after each call, the Dex Holder called simply blinked at the daunting task before heading outside. Eventually, only 4 were left behind in the lab other than Red himself.

"Ruby, Sapphire, stay in this lab," he ordered. "And focus so that you'll be able to control Groudon and Kyogre freely at will, without having to focus overly on yourselves. In other words…"

Ruby raised a hand. "I know what you mean, Red. You don't have to worry."

"Good." Red glanced at Black. "… Black, Crys will train you here in Pallet Town. Make sure you have your Emboar and White's Serperior ready. I don't think you're exactly ready for this, but for the sake of the final battle, those two Pokémon will need to know Blast Burn and Frenzy Plant."

Crystal blinked a few times. "… Me? I'm going to have to teach him?"

"Yes, you. You'll need to train him. I… have to go meet an old… uh… friend slash bloodline relative… technically. Hopefully, it mastered another language other than the language of fighting. Because I'd rather not deal with that today."

…

Meanwhile, Emerald arrived in Slateport City via Teleport once again. Again, he took a couple of seconds to shake away the nausea from being warped into a different region in a blink of an eye. Afterwards, he took a deep breath. He was back in his home region… And he didn't like it. He never liked the place, which was why he was always with Crystal in Johto. But he had his mission. And he borrowed Crystal's Xatu (again) because of the mission.

The Xatu perched on his shoulders and prepared to lift off. Emerald looked into his Pokénav's map and pointed at the direction where he needed to go. Straight southeast.

The Xatu lifted off and headed towards the designated direction. Emerald took the time to watch the strong water currents between Pacifidlog Town and Slateport City. Some poor swimmer got caught in one strong current and was being pushed towards Slateport all the way from Pacifidlog, while screaming for help. Sucker… And it looked like there was a large rock in the path of the current…

Before too long, Emerald arrived at the island where his first mission would take place. Well, it wasn't really much of a mission. This wouldn't take long.

Emerald landed on the island and returned the Xatu. He took a brief look around.

"Damn, this is boring!" he yelled out. "There's nothing remotely interesting in this island!" He began to walk towards the thick forest in the middle of the island. On the way, he spotted a worn-out sign next to the only path. "_Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts,_" he read out. "… Did someone die or something? What's with this place?" He entered the forest and soon found a large clearing in the center. There was something shiny in the center of that clearing, so he approached it. It was some kind of an orb, but he didn't recognize it. He was about to kick at it but then spotted another sign next to it. "_Dreams are but another reality. Never forget…_" he read out again. "… Am I interrupting a funeral?"

Suddenly, the orb started to glow and the leaves around the forest started to rustle. Emerald crossed his fake arms and waited for something to happen. The leaves stopped rustling and an invisible figure shot out of nowhere, flying straight towards him. The figure was only noticeable because the leaves were swirling around it. The figure stopped just before running into Emerald. It hovered above the glowing orb as it stared at Emerald.

\ \_Rald?_\ \

Emerald nodded. "Hi, Latios," he said as the invisible figure deactivated its invisibility. "Long time no see."

Another figure became visible next to the Eon Pokémon and revealed itself to be Latias. \ \_Hi, Rald. It's been a while._\ \

\ \_We had a feeling you would come for us,_\ \ Latios said via telepathy.

"Really?"

Latias nodded. \ \_Yes. We can sense Arceus too. And we figured that you would come and get us to help you._\ \

\ \_Though I must ask how helpful we can be against something like Arceus, we will help you nonetheless._\ \

"That's great," Emerald said. "Yeah, I came to get you two, but you two aren't the only ones I'm here to recruit." He then took a glance around the clearing. "But if you knew I was coming, couldn't you have… decorated the place a little? This is the saddest and the most desolate place I've been in recently. It wasn't this bad when I first came here."

\ \_Southern Island was always like this, Rald,_\ \ Latias explained. \ \_The last time you were here, you weren't exactly overjoyed. Maybe back then, this place looked happy in comparison._\ \

"Maybe," Emerald said. "But still, do something about this place. This place is sadder than Lilycove City! And that place is in shambles. But I guess we'll talk about that later. We got to get going."

Latios picked up the glowing orb on the ground and split it open. It then took out two smaller orbs before putting the big one down on the ground again. It gave one of the smaller orbs to Latias.

Emerald stomped on the ground with his Platform Shoes to take out a couple of lengths of string. He gave one each to the two Eon Pokémon, who tied the orbs around their necks so they wouldn't fall off.

"Soul Dew, huh?" Emerald said as he looked at the small beautiful orbs.

\ \_Yes. It should help us in the coming battle._\ \

"Great. Now let's go to Sky Pillar."

Latias looked over at Latios. \ \_Did I hear that right?_\ \

Emerald sent out Crystal's Xatu again and steadily lifted off the ground. Latios shrugged. \ \_I guess so._\ \

…

A few minutes later, Emerald stood outside Sky Pillar, wondering how the hell he was going to summon Rayquaza. Without having to climb the Sky Pillar itself. That'd suck. According to Ruby, who heard from Wally, climbing that tower/pillar was horrible.

Emerald crossed his fake arms and started to think of a solution while Latias and Latios simply hovered around him.

\ \_Perhaps you could lure out Rayquaza?_\ \ Latias suggested.

"How am I going to do that?"

\ \_Well, Rayquaza tends to appear whenever Groudon and Kyogre are fighting each other._\ \

"But then… why didn't it show up when they clashed the last time in Lilycove?"

\ \_I think it was going to come, but the situation was resolved pretty quickly._\ \

Emerald stared at the two Ultra Balls Ruby and Sapphire had given him. Temporarily. Groudon and Kyogre were looking up at him, waiting for something to happen. Okay, so if these two were to fight each other… The Hoenn Dex Holder sent out the two ancient Pokémon.

"Alright, you two," he said to the two Legendaries. "… Fight."

The Groudon and Kyogre glanced at each other before looking at Emerald. Latias observed their expressions.

\ \_They're asking why._\ \

Emerald shrugged. "Rayquaza has to be lured out. And to do that, you two need to fight to get its attention. So… pretend to fight!"

The two Legendaries looked at each other. The Groudon simply stood there, wondering what it should do. It decided to roar at the Kyogre to simulate an act of anger.

"… Grar?"

Emerald put a hand over his face. "You call that a roar? A _Poochyena_ has a louder roar than that! Louder!"

The Groudon shrugged. The Kyogre shook its head. With a slight rolling of the eyes, it brought down a massive Thunder at Groudon… which did absolutely nothing. The two Legendaries looked over at Emerald, asking if that was enough.

Emerald made a hand signal to accelerate the action. "Stop with your half-assed attempts! Do it properly!"

Latios rolled its eyes and hovered in front of Emerald. \ \_Rald, on second thought, how about you just… attack the Sky Pillar? Just shake it or something._\ \

Emerald thought for a second. "Yes, that could work. Like Crystal shaking a tree to try to get those hell raisers down." He looked at the Sky Pillar and pointed at the very top. "Alright, attack it! But don't do any actual damage. We don't want to piss off Rayquaza too much."

The Kyogre shot a stream of water at it, but at a low enough power so that the Sky Pillar wouldn't topple. The Groudon shot a stream of fire at it immediately afterwards, but only enough to dry the water and maybe scorch a couple of bricks.

Emerald crossed his arms and waited. Okay, the Sky High Pokémon wasn't responding. Well, Crystal never got those hell raisers to come down by shaking that tree anyways. Next plan, then. "Latias, insult it."

\ \_Huh?_\ \

"Call it fat or something. Just bring it out!"

Latias looked at him doubtfully. \ \_... You sure, Rald?_\ \

"Sure. We have to bring it out somehow."

\ \_... You __**do**__ have a plan, though. Right?_\ \

"Of course I do!"

Latias looked over at Latios, asking for suggestions. Latios shrugged. Latias lightly shook its head and proceeded to insult Rayquaza, but in a way that Emerald would also hear.

\ \_Hey, Rayquaza! Quit napping and get out here! You need to get some exercise! You're getting chubby! So come out, idiot! You know, for something that lived in the __**upper atmosphere**__ for hundreds of thousands of years, you'd think you'd be resistant to the cold! But nooo. You know why? Because you're stupid! You're getting fat, but you're too stupid to have Thick Fat!_\ \

"Ouch," Emerald muttered. "That's harsh."

The Sky Pillar started to shake as an ear-splittingly loud screech was heard from high above. Latias quickly went over to hide behind Groudon.

\ \_We got its attention now, Rald,_\ \ Latios said through telepathy. \ \_And it sounds __**pissed**__._\ \

"Translation?"

\ \_"Who has the balls?!"_\ \

"That works."

The Rayquaza finally appeared, looking quite angry as it glared at the four visible 'guests'. The Groudon took a step to the side and pointed at Latias.

\ \_"That one called you fat."_\ \ Latios translated.

The Rayquaza opened its mouth and formed a giant ball of energy as it charged a Dragon Pulse. Latias quickly activated its invisibility. The Rayquaza simply charged the Dragon Pulse more so that it could still hit Latias with the splash damage.

\ \_... This is all a part of the plan. … … Right, guys?_\ \ Latias asked.

\ \_... Rald, why aren't you using your special ability?_\ \ Latios asked.

"Good question."

Emerald quickly pulled out his E-shooter, loaded it up with Sky Pillar dirt samples and aimed it at Rayquaza in the eye…

…

Meanwhile, in Sinnoh, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum finally reached the peak of Mt. Coronet. Their mission was going to be very difficult, but as long as they stuck together, there wouldn't be _that_ many problems.

"Okay, here we are, Spear Pillar," Pearl announced. "It's really simple. We go in, find and recruit Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and we get out. Easy, right?"

"Sure," Diamond said. "Except… you know. They might kill us." He looked over at Platinum with a worried expression. "Lady, do you think you'll be okay? I mean… the last time we saw Giratina, it wasn't on our side."

"I will be okay, Diamond," Platinum said with a warm smile. "Thank you for the concern."

The three Sinnoh Dex Holders took a deep breath and entered the Spear Pillar. They expected 3 portals to be present. One leading to Dialga, one leading to Palkia, and one leading to the Distortion World.

But in actuality, the moment they stepped in, they saw a massive staircase made of light that led to the Hall of Origin.

"… Remind me. Was this here before?" Diamond asked.

"Amazing," Platinum said as she observed the staircase from close up. "This is made of pure light! Yet it is in solid form! Amazing…"

"Miss Lady, you can take a sample for research later," Pearl said. "We have a job to do!"

Platinum didn't seem to hear as she focused on the hardlight staircase. But suddenly, the staircase started to distort in a ripple pattern. The heiress took a step back, wondering what was happening. Before a realization struck her, a thick, dark, shadowy tentacle shot out from the center of the distortion and wrapped around the girl's body.

"Ah!" the heiress shrieked in surprise. Another shadowy tentacle shot out and wrapped around her mouth. The girl could only let out muffled shrieks of terror as the tentacles dragged her towards the distortion.

"Lady, no!" Diamond yelled out as he quickly grabbed onto the heiress. Unfortunately, Platinum got dragged into the distortion and vanished. Diamond helping didn't do anything. "Lady!"

"Damn it, this is a bad start!" Pearl yelled, as he realized that Giratina had just kidnapped Platinum into its dimension.

The entire Spear Pillar started to shake as two loud roars echoed throughout the area. A dark blue portal ripped open right in front of Diamond and a dark pink one appeared in front of Pearl. From the two portals, Dialga and Palkia appeared, both looking very angry. Dialga's central blue orb was glowing dark blue as it gathered up energy. Palkia's pink orbs on either shoulder were glowing as well as it also charged up power.

"… _Very_ bad start!" Pearl yelled again.

The two Legendary Dragons roared again as they prepared to deal with the intruders.

…

Meanwhile, Platinum kept falling, Giratina had released her, and now she was in freefall within the jumbled up excuse of a dimension also known as the Distortion World. She wasn't going to die from the fall though, as she was currently in a low-gravity section. And her RLS system was fully functioning.

The heiress soon landed onto a floating island, and rolled to lessen the little impact. A bad move on her part, as it turned out, during that roll, she ended up in a high-gravity sector. Either that, or Giratina had just turned up the gravity. Either way, she was now twice as heavy as she was supposed to be.

Giratina appeared in front of her, seemingly warping out of nowhere thanks to its Shadow Force. Platinum struggled to get back up to her feet. The Giratina let out an ear-splitting screech, forcing the heiress to cover her ears.

"Giratina!" Platinum shouted once the screech ended. "I am not here to harm you! I came here to ask you for your help!"

The Renegade Pokémon maintained its glare and screeched again. It opened its mouth and formed a giant blue ball of fire.

'_Will-o-wisp!_' Platinum thought with a gasp. She quickly sent out her Empoleon. "Hydro Cannon!"

The Empoleon took a second to get used to the stronger gravity, but launched the attack anyways. The Giratina simply vanished with Shadow Force, causing the attack to miss.

Platinum quickly spun around. The Giratina reappeared and launched the charged Will-o-wisp bomb. The Empoleon jumped in front of its trainer so that it would take the hit instead. The resulting explosion sent both of them flying off of the island, plummeting through the high and low gravity zones.

Thankfully, when Platinum crashed into another island, it was in a low gravity zone. Although the momentum and such would've hurt her anyways, it seemed that this particular dimension ignored physics to some degree. The heiress returned her Empoleon. This mission was _not_ turning out nearly as well as she had hoped.

The Giratina screeched as it proceeded with its attacks. It shot out its shadowy claws/tentacles in order to stab her. Platinum quickly rolled to the side to avoid the claws. She grabbed onto the claws in an attempt to get onto the Renegade Pokémon. If she was to be on top of its head, it wouldn't be able to attack her and she would be able to convince it.

The Giratina simply got its claws to dissipate like dark mist. When the heiress looked up, it had already reformed its claws. Platinum forced herself up to her feet once more and winced in pain as her previous wounds from the ShadowNet capture complained from the excessive straining.

'_Ungh… this is why I have yet to heal,_' Platinum thought as she put an arm over her stomach. '_Once this is over, I will need to take a week or so off and rest…_' She looked up and spotted Giratina charging up a giant dark blue energy ball. '_Dragon Pulse… Perhaps my time of rest will come sooner than expected…_'

The Renegade Pokémon was about to fire the Dragon Pulse but stopped halfway. It dissipated the attack and looked off into the distance. It could sense something… a disturbance, in the distance. Arceus inside Sinjoh Ruins… The Giratina slowly lowered itself to meet Platinum in the eyes. Seeing the massive centipede/Dragon docile (or as docile it was ever going to get), the heiress nervously gulped and proceeded to explain everything she knew.

Meanwhile, in Spear Pillar, Diamond and Pearl were experiencing similar events. Dialga and Palkia were attacking non-stop, giving the two boys absolutely no chance of fighting back. Diamond's Mamoswine did hit a couple of times with Blizzard, but the attack did absolutely nothing. Unlike last time, when Dialga and Palkia didn't really want to fight, this time, they were determined. But this one-sided slaughter didn't last long. The Dialga and Palkia stopped attacking as they started to sense the disturbance in the Sinjoh Ruins.

Diamond and Pearl let out a sigh of relief and began trying to convince the two Legendary Dragons. It wouldn't be that hard, considering how the two boys have worked with the two Dragons before.

…

Next day, August 22, Pallet Town…

…

One by one, the Dex Holders started to gather together once more, each having completed their missions. Crystal remained seated in her wheelchair, waiting for Emerald to arrive. Teaching Black Blast Burn and Frenzy Plant was… painful. A boy learning Blast Burn and the girl (or her Pokémon, at any rate) learning Frenzy Plant, without the 3 Paths? That was way too familiar…

Red was the first to come back. He looked exhausted, but perfectly fine otherwise. He gave Crystal a pat on the shoulder before he went to lie down somewhere. Green arrived shortly after, carrying 3 Ultra Balls, each containing a Kanto Legendary Bird Pokémon. He didn't seem happy in the slightest. Capturing Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres undoubtedly reminded him of Blue. A lot.

Silver came back an hour later, riding on Ho-oh. He had to leave Lugia behind so that it could continuously scan for Arceus without distractions. After returning Ho-oh, he gave Crystal two Ultra Balls.

Emerald arrived a few minutes after, having been Teleported once more. He looked rather scorched, and was missing yet another fake arm. And a Platform Shoe.

"Well, that went better than expected," he muttered as he went over to the bag he had placed inside the lab, that contained duplicates of his equipment. After re-equipping himself, he went to return the Ultra Balls containing Groudon and Kyogre to Ruby and Sapphire. Afterwards, he gave Green three Pokéballs that were borrowed. He then came back to Crystal and gave her an Ultra Ball as well, along with the borrowed Xatu. Once all the deliveries were made, he let out a sigh of relief. "I still don't see why _I_ had to do all the deliveries," he said to the two invisible figures hovering above him. He didn't get a response.

Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum arrived next. They didn't need to use Sabrina's Teleport. They just ripped open a portal in front of Pallet Town and stepped out of it. … Which was good, because the Saffron Gym Leader was starting to get _really_ grumpy from having to perform so many inter-regional Teleports in such a short time. Platinum had to… _bribe_ her after the payments for the Teleports, but even that wasn't going to help forever. But now that they were here, the Dex Holders no longer needed Sabrina's help. For the final battle, regardless of where Arceus appears, Pearl's Palkia would just rip a hole in the dimension and every Dex Holder would be able to get to the battlefield quickly and painlessly.

While Diamond and Pearl relaxed, Platinum went over to Yellow and gave her a Pokéball that she borrowed.

Once every Dex Holder was well-equipped and had a chance to catch their breath, Green stood in front of the others and delivered his speech. No Dex Holder should suffer the same fate as him, and everyone needed their rest for the final battle coming up.

* * *

><p><strong>Remember, <strong>\ \_Telepathic communication appears in this format._\ \ **Some Legendary captures were skipped. The full roster will appear in the next chapter. This is **_**not**_** overkill. The game balances are ignored. Ever see Pokémon Movie 12? Arceus vs. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Arceus kicked all their asses without even trying, without using Judgment affected by a Plate-power. In the games… Arceus is screwed against Dialga alone, without any Plates.**

**When I said that the HGSS arc kind of screwed with the second half of SA, I meant it. ShadowNet's actual purpose has been lost, AND the final battle's appearance of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina needs more explanation. The ones under Storc are copies. The real ones are with Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum.**

**And yes, I tried to give each Dex Holder their corresponding game's signature Pokémon. Extenuating circumstances aside, that is. The non-mascots are given to their relations with Dex Holders from Pokémon Special. Black has no slot here. No Legendaries for him, so he gets Blast Burn and White gets Frenzy Plant posthumously. Black and White are still guests to SA. They have no roles in the final battle (which is why I killed off White). So no Reshiram/Zekrom/Kyurem shenanigans. That's in SY and S-**

**SA #032: Priority Shift and SA #033: Home Field Advantage was split into two because of this special intermission. After SA #031: 100,000 Year's War, I realized there wasn't enough space to feature both SA-I 4: Return to Sender and SA-SI: Full Contact Safari before the final battle started. I had to pick one of the two to make sure the final battle is uninterrupted but stalled as long as possible. Solution: split the chapter immediately before the final battle and upload them separately, but with SA-I 4 in between them. But remove the contents of SA-SI to prevent spoilers for the final battle, and have it come up as a separate chapter. Results: instead of only having 1 chapter before the final battle, there are now 4. More than enough stalling.**

**Below is the dialogue exchange I wanted to include in here, but it didn't really fit anywhere. So it's been left out.**

* * *

><p>What Could Have Been:<p>

Saffron City…

Lt. Surge sat on a chair with his arms crossed as he stared at Sabrina lying on an invisible couch made of Mr. Mime's Barrier, with an ice pack on her forehead.

"… You're complaining?" Lt. Surge asked in disbelief. "You made more money in the past two days than what I would've made in two years, and it only cost you a headache. And you're _complaining_?"

Sabrina let out a low growl. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I came to see if I could borrow some money so I can repair the damaged ships," Lt. Surge answered. "You don't need all that money, right? And if you're complaining so much, I'll be a good friend and take that money off your hands."

Sabrina's eye twitched. And in that instant, the chair Lt. Surge was sitting on was shot into the sky, with the Vermillion Gym Leader holding on. The chair started to move violently left and right, trying to free itself.

"… Maybe I'll ask you later," Lt. Surge said quickly.

The door to the Saffron Gym burst open, and the chair was sent through the doorway, with Lt. Surge still holding on. Outside the Gym, the chair shook itself even more violently, forcing the Vermillion Gym Leader to let go. Once the man crashed onto the ground, the chair re-entered the Gym through the door and the door slammed shut on its own.

* * *

><p><strong>Now, I cannot possibly stall anymore. And that's no lie. SA has 3 to 5 chapters left, and that depends on how long the final battle takes. Remember that Deoxys vs. Arceus battle I promised way back in SE? Guess what's coming up… No, seriously. I'm not lying. Though I could be evil again and just… not focus on SA for a while. But unfortunately (?), the priority of S-EARLY is to finish SA. That way, I can focus on SRSL/SY and-**


	39. Full Circle Part 1

**I don't think the SA-SI did what I hoped it would accomplish. I don't remember its exact purpose, but my plan was a failure anyways. Oh well. Some plans succeed, some fail.**

**Final battle mechanics: no game balance or game mechanics and modified in-game effects for Moves. All Legendary Pokémon have their default Ability and their DW Ability. Most attacks will follow the Pokémon Movies for flashiness, but added Pokémon Special flavor. For those attacks that have yet to appear in a Pokémon Movie, I will follow the game animations as closely as possible. Generation IV animations, as I never had the battle animations on in V and as such have no clue what any attack looks like (and the few animations I've seen in wireless battles, I've forgotten). And since I won't be getting XY and there's a big chance of me avoiding Generation VI entirely, Generation IV animations are all that's available. Deal with the obsoleteness! Dialga's Roar of Time will have two functions. On the offense, will be Pokémon Movie 10 and 12's Roar of Time effect. On the defense will be the DP and Pt arcs' Roar of Time effect (reverse effect on itself or in a target area). Similarly, Spacial Rend also has two functions. Offense, of Pokémon Movie 10 and 12's Spacial Rend, and on defense, DP and Pt arcs' Spacial Rend (insta-teleportation of an attack into another location).**

**And thus… the final battle starts! Again! For real this time, though! Let's hope it was worth all that damn stalling… Now get ready for the single longest battle in ALL of SA! Really. Not the longest chapter though, because the final battle is divided into two pieces.**

* * *

><p>The <em>REAL <em>Chapter 34: (the _REAL_) Full Circle (the _REAL_) Part 1

August 23, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh, 12 pm…

The Dex Holders all stared at the controlled Arceus and the created copies of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina hovering high above the ground.

So this was a battle against 4 Legendary Pokémon.

Storc sent out Darkrai to join the battle.

… _5_ Legendary Pokémon.

And if two Legendary Pokémon on the scale of Groudon and Kyogre were able to cause so much destruction, then 3 of equal strength, 1 of lesser, and 1 of vastly superior put together will cause absolute destruction.

Red smiled. This was going to be a challenge. But the Dex Holders didn't temporarily capture various Legendary Pokémon for nothing.

"Let's do it!"

The Dex Holders threw their Ultra Balls and borrowed Pokéballs to send out all the Legendary Pokémon that have volunteered/convinced to join them for this fight.

Green sent out Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, and hopped onto the Pokémon which Blue rode during the clash against Lugia and Ho-oh all those years ago. Luckily the Moltres's flames were only aesthetic. While Articuno will fight on its own, Zapdos will stay around Kyogre for the Drizzle effect. Green would keep Moltres around Groudon for Drought. He also sent out Regirock, Regice, and Registeel (borrowed from Brandon by Emerald), so that they may defend Crystal throughout the battle. She would have the overall command and couldn't move adeptly, so she required extra protection.

Yellow sent out and hopped onto Cresselia, which was borrowed from Palmer by Platinum when she was in Sinnoh. The Lunar Pokémon would offer assistance with the medic duty with Reflect, Light Screen, and Lunar Dance.

Silver sent out Lugia and Ho-oh and rode the Diving Pokémon. Gold was supposed to use Ho-oh, but now, the Rainbow Pokémon will be fighting on its own, without coordination. But it was told to stick around Groudon.

Crystal sent out Raikou (borrowed from Anabel by Emerald), Entei, and Suicune. All three Legendary Pokémon would also fight on their own, using the guidelines given. Raikou and Suicune will stay near Kyogre for its Drizzle effect. Entei will be around Groudon for the Drought.

Ruby sent out Groudon. Sapphire sent out Kyogre. The two Hoenn Dex Holders didn't need to ride their Pokémon in order to give their commands. The newly created Red and Blue Orbs, created by extracting the remaining amplified power in their veins, would serve as a communications medium.

Emerald sent out Rayquaza and got on. Latias and Latios reappeared nearby and hovered around him. They would serve as distractions and _chaff pods_ against Darkrai's Dark Void by using Safeguard. Their Soul Dew glowed as they prepared for battle.

Diamond sent out Dialga, Mesprit, and Regigigas (re-captured) and hopped onto the Temporal Pokémon. Again. Mesprit would cooperate with the other members of the Sinnoh Lake trio while Regigigas… would do something. Throw big chunks of rock, maybe? It would do _something_. Diamond dug through his bag and found a large diamond-like object. It glowed dark blue, and the visible dark blue crystal-like thing of Dialga glowed dark blue to match. Dialga let out a roar as it powered up thanks to the Adamant Orb inside Diamond's bag.

Pearl sent out Palkia and Azelf, and hopped onto the Spatial Pokémon. It wasn't that easy to ride it, given its shape. Palkia's visible crystal-like things on either shoulder glowed dark pink as it drew power from the Lustrous Orb inside Pearl's bag.

Platinum sent out Giratina and Uxie, and hopped onto the Renegade Pokémon. Riding the massive centipede-like Pokémon was a bit unnerving, but she had to do this. But seriously, a 20-foot centipede was _not_ the most ideal ride in the world. Giratina screeched and powered up from the Griseous Orb inside Platinum's bag.

Every Dex Holder sent out their starter. Crystal arranged all of them into types. Charizard, Typhlosion, Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar as one group, Venusaur, Meganium, Sceptile, Torterra, and Serperior as the second, and Blastoise, Feraligatr, Swampert, and Empoleon as the third. With Regirock, Regice, and Registeel defending the girl and the Pokémon, Crystal was able to order the ultimate moves without worrying about retaliation.

Red stretched his arms. He sent out Aerodactyl and snapped his finger. On cue, the air distorted around him as a figure became visible. The figure revealed itself to be Mew. Red looked up at it and for a few moments, got lost in his memories. He first ran into Green while hunting for that Mew, he got mixed up in Blue's scam/hunt for that thing, and he got his ass handed to him for the first time thanks to that Mew.

The Mew looked over at him and waved.

"… Yeah, hi," Red said with a wave too. "You… just get Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf and do whatever you can."

The Mew nodded and signaled the Sinnoh Lake trio to come over. It then Teleported a few more Pokémon to the battlefield: its bad clone Mewtwo, Deoxys Individual 1, and Deoxys Individual 2.

Red shook hands with Mewtwo. It had been a while since he last saw the Genetic Pokémon, and he was glad to have its powers on his side for this battle.

"It's been a while," he said.

\ \_Yes. It has. But I am glad to be able to stand on your side to face a powerful enemy once again._\ \ It looked up at Arceus and spotted Storc and her Darkrai. \ \_And against __**those two**__. I can hardly wait._\ \

"I think you'd do best in attacking Darkrai and making sure Storc is too distracted to give Arceus too many commands. And you can help in wiping out hordes of those Unown too." Red then looked over at the two Deoxys, wondering which one was which individual. "… So… You're not going to fight me this time, are you?"

He took out his Pokédex and waited. Soon, letters started to appear to form the words Deoxys was trying to communicate.

\ \YES. YOU HAVE HELPED US GREATLY IN THE PAST. IT IS TIME WE RETURN THE FAVOR. WE HAVE TRAINED AND WE ARE NOW CAPABLE OF CHANGING OUR FORMES AT WILL. WE WILL AWAIT INSTRUCTIONS.\ \

The two Deoxys soon changed into their Attack Formes and stared up at Arceus. They were ready.

"Good," Red muttered. "I'll fly around the battlefield and call out places that look weak, and all of you hit them hard." He then looked over at Black, who had his Braviary out and was wondering if he should send out something else too. Not that he had any other aerial transport or anything that can hit a Legendary Pokémon… "Black, you follow me and do the same. We'll be scouts and distract the enemy so they don't defend themselves."

Crystal watched all the Dex Holders spreading out with their Legendary Pokémon and realized that it was time. She had to start the battle with an opening salvo. But first, this battle would be huge and chaotic. Solaceon Town would be utterly destroyed. And the destruction would still spread. That couldn't happen.

"Pearl, get Palkia to isolate Solaceon Town as a separate dimension!"

Pearl relayed the order to Palkia and it did as told. Storc's Arceus didn't block the spatial bend, and as such, the upcoming battle was moved to a completely isolated dimension.

Crystal gave her first orders the moment the isolation was complete. "Fire team," she said, indicating Charizard, Typhlosion, Blaziken, Infernape, and Emboar. "Fire! Water team, fire! Grass team, fire!" she ordered, making sure to give a little moment of gap between the orders so that the attacks wouldn't neutralize each other.

The Fire type starters aimed at the Arceus and used Blast Burn. Half a second later, the Water type starters used Hydro Cannon, and another half a second later, the Grass type starters used Frenzy Plant.

The Arceus saw the ultimate attacks approach. A swarm of Unown circled around it to create a shield to weaken the incoming hit. The Arceus itself triggered its Draco Plate to turn into a Dragon type so that it could resist all of the incoming attacks.

Crystal gasped as she realized that even _14_ ultimate attacks did basically nothing to the Arceus. "Everyone, strike!" she said through her headset.

Sapphire's Kyogre let out a loud screech/roar and shot a massive stream of water. Storc's copied Palkia flew into the attack. Taking advantage of the massive raincloud formed by Drizzle, it dropped a huge Thunder at the Sea Basin Pokémon. But Zapdos flew into the attack first, using its Lightningrod to boost its own power.

Storc waved a hand. A portal ripped open and seemingly infinite number of Unown poured out and swarmed at the Dex Holders. A big portion headed straight towards Crystal. Regirock, Regice, and Registeel created an energy barricade to repel the oncoming Unown, similar to how they kept all the destructive energy within Sootopolis City all those years ago during the clash between Groudon and Kyogre.

Storc's Darkrai created a dark ball of energy and shot out hundreds of tiny dark spheres. It was going to use Dark Void to temporarily neutralize as many enemies as possible. Latios and Latias activated their invisibility and flew around as fast as they could, ramming into the Dark Void spheres with their Safeguard active.

Storc's Giratina screeched and shot out a Shadow Ball at the real Giratina. Platinum's Giratina screeched back and retaliated with a Shadow Ball of its own. Having powered up with the Griseous Orb, it overpowered its clone, forcing the copy to neutralize the Shadow Ball with an added Dragon Pulse.

The copy of Dialga and Palkia joined the Giratina copy and joined together to fire 3 Dragon Pulse at once. In retaliation, Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum's Sinnoh Dragons joined together to fire 3 Dragon Pulse at once as well. The real Dragons' attacks overpowered their clones again.

The swarm of Unown began to flood towards all of the Legendary Pokémon. Silver got Lugia to blast them with Whirlwind and follow up with Aeroblast. Diamond's Dialga roared as the air in front of its head distorted. From the distortion, hundreds of large chunks of meteorites were launched towards the thickest section of the swarm of Unown. Palkia and Giratina joined in on the Draco Meteor.

Crystal was the only Dex Holder to see the rain of Draco Meteor, the swarm of Unown being targeted, _and_ what was behind the target. So she gave the alert.

"Red, Black, _get out of there_!" she yelled through her headset. "Raining Draco Meteor on your position!"

Red and Black heeded her warning and quickly flew away just as the Draco Meteor hit the Unown.

The Arceus suddenly powered up with the Icicle Plate. It formed a giant blue energy ball on its forehead and shot it towards the sky. The energy ball exploded high in the air, and rained down high-speed target-tracking shrapnel, each bigger than a Draco Meteor meteorite.

"Ice type Judgment!" Crystal yelled through her headset again.

Pearl's Palkia saw the attack incoming and attempted a Spacial Rend to send it back towards the Arceus. But the Judgment piece simply went through the spatial rift and hit the Spatial Pokémon anyways.

At the same time, Diamond's Dialga attempted to reverse time on the Judgment piece, but even that did nothing. Luckily, both Dialga and Palkia partly resisted Ice, lessening the damage taken.

Platinum's Giratina vanished with Shadow Force, effectively dodging the incoming attack. Emerald's Rayquaza did not get hit by the attack, as Latias and Latios attacked the Judgment piece with Mist Ball and Luster Purge. Rayquaza hit it immediately afterwards with Flamethrower, successfully neutralizing the attack.

Crystal observed the battlefield as carefully as possible. Things were pretty damn hectic. Currently, the Arceus was still being charged up by the hordes of Unown, and the copies of the Sinnoh Dragons were attacking together. The Darkrai was flying around, trying to use Dark Void to neutralize as many targets as possible. Latias and Latios were making that job rather difficult.

She jumped in surprise when a huge Psychic attack shot right beside her at the Arceus. She looked over and noticed that Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf were channeling their energy into Mew, which used that power to overcharge its Psychic attacks.

Crystal scanned the battlefield to see what the other Legendaries were doing. Every Legendary was doing its part. … Except Regigigas. It seemed to have _just_ gotten its act together and was trying to use Crush Grip on an enemy. But unfortunately, _every_ enemy was high in the air, and… it couldn't fly. The Regigigas stretched its arms at Arceus, but its arms were nowhere near long enough. As a result, it simply charged Hyper Beam shots and fired those, doing minimal damage.

"Dia, Pearl, Platinum," Crystal said through her headset. "Attack the copies of the Sinnoh Dragons. Red, Green, can you handle the Darkrai? Silver, handle the Unown. Everyone else, target the Arceus."

The Dex Holders did as told. Silver got Lugia to repeatedly blast hordes of Unown with Aeroblast, wiping them out dozens at a time. Red got his Aerodactyl to fly around Darkrai, trying to draw its attention while Green's Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres attacked it with Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Flamethrower.

Sapphire's Kyogre shot a huge Hydro Pump at Arceus. At the same time, Emerald's Rayquaza shot Dragon Pulse, Ruby's Groudon hit Fire Blast, Raikou used Thunder, Suicune used Ice Beam, Entei used Solarbeam, and both Deoxys used Psycho Boost. Mewtwo created a giant twister with its Psychic, trapping hundreds of Unown in the vortex and having them crash into the Arceus. Mew fired its own super powered Psychic at Arceus. Crystal ordered the starters in front of her to join in on the attack.

Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum's Sinnoh Dragons attacked their copies, utilizing the power boosts from the Orbs being carried by the Sinnoh Dex Holders.

All the Unown quickly gathered around Arceus to form a huge shield. The attacks created a huge explosion that eliminated a large portion of the Unown, with enough power to still hit Arceus.

Crystal took out a pair of binoculars from her bag and zoomed in on Arceus. It seemed that a few of the Unown that were attached to its body had fallen off during the impact. She snapped her fingers.

"Of course! To reverse infection of the Unown on a person, you need to knock that Unown off. Same thing here!" Crystal quickly reached up to her headset. "Someone, anyone! Attack Arceus directly and try to knock off all the Unown! Everyone else, distract the enemy!"

Red glanced left and right. The two Deoxys around him understood. They changed to their Speed Forme and charged straight towards Arceus. The two Deoxys flew in front of Arceus in a blink of an eye and changed into the Attack Forme. Before Arceus could react, they hit it with dual Thunderbolt. But Arceus had already used the power of the Earth Plate and thus took no damage.

The two Deoxys charged at it directly, aiming to physically knock off the Unown. The Arceus kept the power of the Earth Plate active and dropped a huge Thunder on itself. It took no damage, but the Thunder hit the two Deoxys. The two Pokémon had changed into the Defense Forme, but the impact still pushed them away from the Arceus, allowing the remaining Unown to reform the shield.

All the Unown charged up their own energy and used Hidden Power at the nearest Dex Holder. The two Deoxys flew in front of the massive combination of the Hidden Power to take the hit instead.

…

3 hours later…

…

The Arceus fired a charged up Hyper Beam at Deoxys Individual 1. The DNA Pokémon changed into the Defense Forme to take the hit. But the Hyper Beam broke through the formed barrier and blew off a quarter of the Deoxys itself.

The DNA Pokémon shook as it used Recover to regenerate the lost parts. The impact and the regeneration took a lot of energy, forcing it to back off. Deoxys Individual 2 covered its escape, allowing Individual 1 to get to Yellow safely. The Kanto Dex Holder used her powers to heal the Deoxys back up to full strength.

The Dialga copy started to roar and its dark blue core started to glow ominously. It opened its mouth and formed a giant blue ball of energy. It aimed at Diamond and his Dialga and launched its Roar of Time.

"Dia! Incoming!" Crystal yelled through her headset, as she saw the attack first.

Diamond looked up and saw the huge beam of dark blue energy. He quickly got his Dialga to move out of the way, barely managing to dodge the attack. The attack continued, and now, Red and Black were in its path.

The two Dex Holders saw the attack incoming, but a little too late. Red's Aerodactyl quickly spun while flying straight up, managing to dodge the attack with just a graze. Black's Braviary attempted to do the same, but couldn't do it fast enough. It got hit by the attack and plummeted towards the ground.

Red noticed that Black wasn't beside him when the attack finished flying past him. By that time, the Unova Dex Holder had already hit the ground. The Kanto champion cursed and went on with the fight.

From the ground, Black managed to crawl away from the crash, but barely. His vision had already tunneled and he couldn't breathe.

"Damn it," he gasped out. "… Damn it…" He looked up at the sky and could see White's face in the clouds. "… Miss President… I will join you shortly…" With another grunt, he collapsed onto the ground and ceased to breathe.

The other Dex Holders realized that one of their comrades had fallen and fought against the enemy even harder in retaliation.

…

As time passed, the Dex Holders started to get weary. The Legendary Pokémon were still fighting non-stop, but the commanding Dex Holders were having difficulty keeping up. Especially one particular Dex Holder.

Sapphire clutched at her heart with one hand while she kept her firm grip on the created Blue Orb with the other. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, let alone focus on controlling Kyogre.

"No…" she gasped out. Her vision was starting to tunnel and she began to taste blood in her mouth again. "Not yet… not yet!" she told herself as she forced herself to focus. "Ugh… No… not now… Not ready…"

Sapphire stared at the Kyogre in front of her. It was doing exactly as told without being physically told. The girl's orders were drawn from her head with the power of the Blue Orb, and as such, Kyogre was able to act with negligible reaction times. And in a battlefield as wide as the current one, giving orders traditionally would require yelling really loudly. Factor in the speed of sound to the mess, and the fact that Kyogre was actually around 100 meters away from Sapphire right now, the Blue Orb was necessary. Without it, it would take around two seconds for Kyogre to act upon each command, and Sapphire would lose her voice very quickly. The same thing went for Ruby and the Red Orb. This was the advantage only Ruby and Sapphire had. The Green Orb never really worked, so Emerald had to ride on Rayquaza. All the Sinnoh Dex Holders had to ride their Legendary Pokémon for this battle for the same reason. Needless to say, that was very risky.

But the Blue Orb was draining too much energy. It drained energy the first time Sapphire came into contact with it, but only a little. Now, since it was reconstructed from the remaining power flowing in her veins, it drew much more. Ruby could handle the Red Orb draining his strength, as he was physically stable. But Sapphire wasn't. She needed rest. But she wasn't getting any rest. This battle would have to end quickly, or the Blue Orb will suck the life out of her.

Sapphire coughed into her hand as she fell to a knee. She looked at her glove and saw blood again. Damn, this battle _really_ had to end quickly.

Yellow too, was struggling to maintain focus in this battle. She was using too much of her powers, and as a consequence, she was having difficulty staying awake. She had to repeatedly pinch herself in the cheek to fight off the drowsiness, but it was getting harder and harder. Even with Cresselia doing the healing half the time, Yellow still had to heal something once every 10 minutes on average.

She snapped awake slightly when Latias crashed into the ground next to her. The girl groggily got off of the Cresselia and went over to heal the Eon Pokémon. Latias soon got back up and after thanking her, got back into the battlefield. Yellow stifled a yawn as she hopped onto the Cresselia once more.

Sooner or later, she was going to fall asleep regardless of her efforts to stay awake. When that happened, Crystal wouldn't be able to contact her, and Cresselia wouldn't be able to heal whichever Pokémon needed it most.

Diamond's Dialga let out a roar as its core glowed dark blue. Pearl's Palkia roared as well, as the two orbs on either shoulder glowed dark pink. Dialga opened its mouth and formed a huge ball of energy. Palkia drew its arm back and dark pink energy gathered around the arm.

Diamond and Pearl gave the order simultaneously. Dialga shot the Roar of Time at Arceus and at the same time, Palkia launched Spacial Rend. Immediately afterwards, both Dragons launched Aura Sphere.

Arceus activated its Iron Plate to resist the damage of the two Dragon type attacks. But just then, Palkia bent space between the attacks and Arceus while Dialga manipulated time around the Aura Spheres to accelerate them. The two Dragons may not be able to manipulate time and space on anything directly related to Arceus, but they could manipulate their own attacks.

The Roar of Time and Spacial Rend disappeared into the hole in space while the two Aura Spheres drastically accelerated and hit Arceus while its Iron Plate was active. The Iron Plate deactivated shortly after, and the Roar of Time and Spacial Rend from before hit it immediately afterwards.

The attacks did more damage than ever, and a lot more Unown fell off of Arceus. But the Arceus itself was just getting angrier. It focused on Dialga and Palkia as it formed an energy ball on its forehead and activated its Icicle Plate. Instead of launching the Judgment into the air and having the pieces track their targets, Arceus launched the Judgment directly at the two Dragons.

Crystal yelled out her next orders and the other Dex Holders complied. Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Rayquaza, Latias, and Latios all grouped together and faced the oncoming Judgment. All 6 Dragons retaliated with Draco Meteor, seemingly covering every cubic centimeter of air between them and the incoming Judgment with meteors.

While Arceus's focus was on the 6 Dragons, every Pokémon on Kyogre's side of the battle attacked with Thunder or Hydro Pump and every Pokémon on Groudon's side of the battle attacked with Solarbeam.

Ho-oh shot out a large burst of mystical blue hellfire and Lugia followed up with a huge blast of high-pressurized air. With the Aeroblast following directly behind the Sacred Fire, the resulting explosion was going to be big.

The other Legendary Pokémon focused on attacking the copies of the Sinnoh Dragons and Darkrai. Whenever Darkrai attempted a Dark Void, the two Deoxys Individuals would hit it with Extremespeed, forcing it to lose focus and energy. Mewtwo created another psychic tornado around Mew and the Sinnoh Lake trio, with the intent of further accelerating Mew's channeled Psychic attack. Mew aimed at the Giratina copy far away and unleashed its energy, which magnified in size, speed, and power thanks to Mewtwo's psychic tornado. The Giratina copy vanished with Shadow Force, making the attack miss.

Mew twitched in anger and gathered up its energy again. This time, it kept a close eye on the Dialga copy, with a combination of Lock-on and Mind Reader. It wasn't going to miss this time.

The Arceus was hit by Thunder and Hydro Pump first. The Hydro Pump drenched it, making the following Thunder more damaging. The Solarbeam wave hit directly after to deal consistent damage. The Sacred Fire hit and exploded thanks to Aeroblast, burning a huge portion of the Unown still attached to Arceus.

The Arceus used Refresh and Recover to shrug off the damage dealt by the combined attacks. It was starting to become a little more aggressive in battle. It wasn't using the Unown shield nearly as much. It was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was good that Arceus was now targetable by attacks since it wasn't hiding. But it was bad since it was also attacking much more aggressively.

The Arceus picked a random target. Platinum's Giratina. It then immediately charged the Renegade Pokémon with Extremespeed to close the distance.

"Miss Lady!" Pearl yelled through his headset. "Ice Beam incoming!" But because he was paying attention to the Arceus, he failed to notice the Palkia copy charging up its Spacial Rend.

Platinum heeded Pearl's warning and her Giratina vanished, dodging Arceus's charge. The moment Giratina vanished, Crystal ordered another salvo of Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, and Frenzy Plant.

'_This can't continue for long_,' she thought as she watched the 14 Pokémon struggle to remain standing. The repeated usage of the ultimate moves was tiring them too much and too quickly. Yellow's healing powers could only help them so much, as they weren't physically damaged.

Unfortunately, since Crystal was focused on the starters, she too, failed to see the Palkia copy charging its attack. With Platinum… somewhere with Shadow Force, Diamond distracted by the Dialga and Giratina copies, and Pearl focused on Arceus, no one saw the attack coming.

Platinum soon reappeared and shook away the nausea from Giratina using Shadow Force again. Each time it used Shadow Force, she got more and more nauseous. But this wasn't the time to lean over and throw up. She still had to focus on the battle, no matter how much longer it would take.

The heiress suddenly heard a loud explosion from afar. She looked and saw Palkia falling towards the ground, having been hit by a Spacial Rend from another Palkia. Platinum squinted and noticed that the one falling had Pearl riding on it.

"Pearl!" the heiress gasped out. She got Giratina to use Shadow Force once more to get to the falling Palkia in time. The moment she reappeared, Platinum extended her right arm towards the falling Palkia. The Giratina flew down to match Palkia's speed. "Pearl! Jump!"

Pearl looked at her and with a loud yell, pushed himself off of the falling Spatial Pokémon. Platinum leaned dangerously far, but managed to grab Pearl's arm. The boy's falling momentum pulled Platinum off of the Giratina, however.

As the Giratina pulled itself up, the heiress managed to grab onto one of its side spikes with her free hand. She shrieked in pain the moment she escaped freefall and Pearl's entire weight pulled down on her right arm.

Pearl looked up and noticed that Platinum was holding onto him with her right hand, and her injuries from the ShadowNet capture hadn't healed yet. She couldn't put excessive force into her right hand without the injured forearm causing severe pain.

"Ah!" Platinum screamed. "Someone… help!" she cried out as loud as she could. But no one was in the vicinity. Diamond and Dialga were on the opposite side of the battlefield, dealing with the Dialga and Giratina copies. But Latias and Latios saw her predicament and charged straight towards her to help. Storc's Darkrai saw as well and moved to intercept the two Eon Pokémon. Platinum clenched her teeth and tried her absolute best to hold on until help arrived. But her injured hand wouldn't cooperate. She couldn't hold on.

"Miss Lady!" Pearl yelled out. "… I'll be okay. Just… set everything right with Dia!"

Platinum frantically shook her head. "Pearl! I can save you! Just… hold on!" she desperately cried out. '_You cannot leave me! I need your help with Diamond!_' But regardless, Pearl's hand slipped. Platinum tried to hold on, but to no avail. Her friend's hand soon slipped free, and in the process, her pearl ring on her finger slipped free as well. "No! Pearl!" the heiress cried out in horror.

Platinum tried to get her Giratina to use Shadow Force again to save Pearl, but the Giratina copy used Shadow Force from the other side of the battlefield to hit the real Renegade Pokémon instead. The heiress held onto her Giratina as it shook violently from the impact. She looked down and saw that Pearl had already hit the ground. Latias and Latios couldn't shake off Darkrai's interference quick enough.

"Pearl…" the heiress muttered as tears fell from her eyes. But soon, she clenched her teeth in anger and glared at the Giratina copy. "You will pay for this!" She climbed on top of her Giratina once again and pointed at the copy with her good hand. "Hit that thing with everything you have!"

But the Giratina copy vanished with Shadow Force again. It was just taunting Platinum now. The girl was about to order her Giratina to give chase when Storc's Darkrai hit the Renegade Pokémon with Dark Pulse. The heiress clenched her teeth in anger and ordered her Giratina to attack Darkrai instead. It was also responsible for Pearl's death.

A few minutes later, Platinum got Darkrai to back off after ordering her Giratina to use Aura Sphere few times in a row. The moment Darkrai retreated into the shadows, the Arceus let out a loud roar/screech. The heiress looked at it and gasp in shock. The Arceus was looking right at Diamond and Dialga while charging up an attack. And in a blink of an eye, the Arceus shot a giant beam of energy at the Temporal Pokémon.

'_No! Diamond!_' The heiress panicked as she realized that Diamond and Dialga were too distracted with that damn Giratina copy to notice the attack. '_No, no, no! What should I do? I cannot allow Diamond to be harmed! I – I must do something!_'

Platinum made her decision. She got Giratina to vanish and reappear in between the energy beam and Dialga.

Diamond looked up and saw Platinum and her Giratina standing in the path of the giant energy beam. The Renegade Pokémon fired a Dragon Pulse at the beam while the heiress turned to look over at him in sad resignation.

'_Lady… what are you doing?!_'

The Dragon Pulse hit the beam and weakened it a little. The beam hit the Giratina right afterwards, causing a giant explosion that pushed Dialga towards the ground. The impact knocked Diamond off of the Temporal Pokémon entirely.

Diamond grunted in pain but still looked up to see what happened. He could see the Giratina falling straight towards the ground and ran as fast as he could towards it. The Giratina crashed onto the ground with a loud thud and Diamond ran even faster.

When he got to the crash site, the Giratina was barely moving and Platinum was lying face down beside it. Diamond quickly knelt beside the girl and shook her by the shoulder. The heiress soon stirred and struggled to stand up. She looked to be in very bad shape. She was bleeding from the side of her head, her eyes had trouble focusing, and a lot of blood was streaming down her leg from the wound on her side. It was a miracle that she survived the explosion and the crash. Her RLS system really helped out here.

"Lady…" Diamond muttered.

"Diamond," the heiress gasped out as she clutched at her wound. She grunted and tried to regain her breath. "… L – Listen… I… l-"

The girl was cut off by a massive claw that suddenly stabbed through her chest. Blood burst out from the wound and splattered onto Diamond.

"Lady!" Diamond cried out in horror. He could see a Giratina appear out of nowhere behind Platinum, with one of its shadowy claws stretched towards the heiress. It was a copy, as the real Giratina was still under the effects of the Arceus beam.

Platinum gasped and groaned as the Giratina copy slowly lifted her off the ground. "Agh… D – Diamond…" she gasped out as her hands reached towards the claw stabbing through her chest. "I… I…" She couldn't finish her thoughts. Her head fell back and her arms lost strength and steadily slid down off of the claw.

The Giratina copy let out a loud screech and quickly flew upwards, dragging Platinum along with it. The heiress's limbs moved with the Giratina, like a ragdoll. But Diamond knew she was still alive, even through the excruciating pain, as he could hear her occasional pained screams.

"Lady!" Diamond cried out again.

The Giratina copy suddenly got hit by a giant beam of psychic energy, created by Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit channeling their energy into Mew. The resulting explosion knocked the Giratina copy backwards, and in that chaos, Platinum was released from its shadowy claw. The heiress plummeted to the ground and Diamond once again ran after her.

From afar, Red saw Platinum plummeting and quickly got his Aerodactyl to get him there. The heiress had hit the ground before he could reach her, however. But Red didn't stop. He got his Aerodactyl to release him when he got close and quickly ran towards the girl.

The heiress was lying face down on the ground, in a small puddle of her own blood. She was still alive, somehow, although barely. It appeared that the girl's RLS system absorbed enough of the impact to allow her a few more seconds of life. She trembled as she struggled to postpone her inevitable death. She had already lost her ability to move her body. And as her death approached closer and closer, she would lose more of her bodily abilities.

"S – Senior…" she gasped out, her voice barely audible.

Red knelt beside the girl and put a hand on her shoulder. "Platinum…"

The heiress struggled to look into her senior's eyes. He looked very sad, as he was aware of her impending death.

"… Forgive… me…" she gasped out, almost in a whisper. Even in her last moments, the fact that she was breaking her promise to Red bothered her greatly.

Red gently patted his junior on the shoulder. "It's okay," he said sadly, but warmly. "Thank you for all your help."

Platinum's eyes slowly closed on their own as tears welled in them. She barely managed to keep her eyes open and trembled as she started to cry. "Th – Thank you…"

Red put a hand on her cheek to try to comfort her in her last moments. "It's okay, Platinum. It's okay…"

The heiress suddenly gasped and groaned as she vomited out the blood clogging her throat. She tried to gasp for air, but received none. Platinum struggled to delay her death as long as possible, as she still had to say her last message. And this one was very important.

She mustered up every last bit of her strength so she could speak. "Senior… tell… tell Diamond…" she muttered, her voice becoming quieter and quieter. "… Tell… him… I… … I… … ah…" Unfortunately, she couldn't finish her message. Her last breath escaped her lungs and she slowly stopped trembling.

Red wiped at his eyes. Another junior lost from his team. And she was a junior he really cared about. "Rest now, Platinum… You've done very well…"

Diamond arrived a minute after Platinum died. He soon realized that he arrived way too late and stumbled the last few steps towards the fallen girl.

"Lady?" Diamond cried out as he dropped to his knees in front of her. Her beautiful and sometimes scary eyes were still slightly open, but they were blank and lifeless. He temporarily froze. Her blank eyes… they would be etched into his mind forever. He never wanted to see this happen… Her face was streaked with blood and seeing so much of her blood made him sick. "Lady… no…"

Tears blurred his eyes as he reached for the girl with trembling hands. Her skin felt so cold… He had been avoiding her for the past few days as he believed that she didn't like him ever since his failed confession. But she had just sacrificed herself to save his life… and he couldn't take it.

Diamond gently closed the girl's eyes for her, embraced her body as best he could and cried, completely forgetting about the massive battle still going on. He didn't care. The girl that he always loved, the girl that was always out of his reach by just a little, was now permanently out of reach. And it would haunt him forever to know that she had sacrificed her life to save his.

Red put a hand on Diamond's trembling shoulder. He now had another junior traumatized by the loss of their loved one. First Black (though he's gone now), then Crystal, now Diamond. But damn it, this battle wasn't over yet.

"Dia," Red said gently. "… I know it hurts. Platinum was one of my closest juniors, and it hurts me a lot to see her like this. But we still have a job to do. We have to get back into the fight."

Storc smiled as she looked down at the battle. Another Dex Holder gone. This battle was looking good. But quite a few of the infected Unown had fallen off of Arceus, and the remaining Dex Holders were becoming proficient in removing them. Currently, 40% of all the infected Unown had fallen off. If they all fell off, the mind control would wear off…

…

/ / FRAGMENT 7/7 [RECORDED VERBATIM AND INTERPRETED POST-CATACLYSM]

C: Damn. I got here too late… All the Dex Holders have left already through Palkia's portal. … As the champion of Sinnoh and a mythological architect, it's my duty to inform them anything and everything about the Sinnoh Legendary Pokémon, including Arceus. So, Dex Holders… Dia, Pearl, and Platinum, if you can hear me… There is a possibility that Arceus may revive a small number of dead people. The probability is very, very low, and it will most likely revive two at most, but it is possible. But you have to get it to open its heart first. You have to restore its faith in humanity. You have to calm it down…

/ / FRAGMENT ENDS

* * *

><p><strong>See? I said it was real this time.<strong>

**Current Dex Holder KIA list: Blue (maybe a little unnecessary), Gold (ouch), Pearl (meh), Platinum (**_**damn**_**!), Black (inevitable), White (oh boohoo (sarcasm))**

**That KIA list keeps growing (no longer part MIA). And my reactions to the deaths are posted as well.**

**And yet another Triple Kill. … And once again, I've been denied an Overkill because the fourth guy never… wait, never mind. Well, this is a spectacular atrocity, isn't it? But this catastrophe/apocalypse isn't over yet. Yes, I said that on purpose, for those who get it. It's like a millionaire jumping off of Mt. Kiliman… okay, I'll stop.**

**Explanation time!**

**That "doom" joke from SA-I 4: Return to Sender. Obviously a shot at Doom Desire (desire for doom). And Doom Desire delivers the 120… er **_**140**_** power of doom at the second turn after using it. This chapter marks the second non-intermission SA chapter since that "doom" joke/hint. This is the second "turn". And just like that, 3 more Dex Holders kick the bucket. The prophecy of doom has come true!**

**A previous poll can now be narrowed down a little. "How many Dex Holders do you think will die in SA?" Results: (0-3) 33, (4-7) 24, (8-11) 5, (12-15) 2. Well, 33 of you were wrong. More than 3 died. You can only hope that the next 24 are correct.**

**Black's death was obvious. Like I said, Black and White never had any slot in the final battle. So like White, who was killed off prior to the big fight, Black is gone here first. Reduces clutter. Besides, he probably felt left out anyways. Everyone else is packing Legendaries. What does he have? With Emboar 'confiscated', all he can do is the equivalent of throwing rocks at a tank. He would've been shelled sooner or later. But with his death, Generation V has been exterminated (apart from Rakutsu and Faitsu (ignore their half-assed "names"), who do not exist within SA).**

**Pearl and Platinum's deaths are not my fault. … Okay, Pearl's is, but Platinum's isn't. That poll from a while back (Favorite 4****th**** Generation Dex Holder) had a secret effect as mentioned, and that effect was: the one picked the most will be spared in SA's plot. Results: Diamond 23, Pearl 9, Platinum 8 (ouch). As such, Diamond is spared in SA. The other two are gone. Damn. Oh wait, spoiler alert. Diamond doesn't die in SA. He might want to, but no. Cruel fate!**

**Had Platinum been selected the most, she would've been spared, like she was supposed to in the original plans. But alas, I had to kill her for the second time in S-EARLY. And right in front of Diamond for an added kick, impaled by Giratina and dropped from high, high above instead of simply following Pearl's pattern. You made me kill my favorite Dex Holder for the first time (back in SE #004, she wasn't my favorite)! … Yes, you! The decision was made by you, even though you were clueless of it!**

**What a shame. No one will ever see the alternate version of Platinum surviving and the similar occurrences…**

**Oh, wait…**

* * *

><p>What <em>Should<em> Have Been:

Conditions:  
>Platinum is chosen to be spared in SA<p>

…

Platinum gasped as Giratina took another hit. She struggled to stay on the Legendary Dragon, but it was getting harder and harder. The Renegade Pokémon still fought back against the copies of Dialga and Palkia.

There was a loud screech as the Giratina copy approached as well. All three copies launched a Dragon Pulse. Platinum tried to get her Giratina to get out of the attacks' path, but it was too late. The attacks would hit first.

Suddenly, Diamond and Dialga flew into the path of the attacks to take the hit instead. Platinum gasped in shock and horror. This was looking awfully similar to how Pearl died.

The Temporal Pokémon took the hit and the resulting explosion sent Diamond flying back. Platinum got her Giratina to quickly fly towards him so that she could save him. Darkrai came to interfere, forcing Giratina to focus on it just before it could reach Diamond. The boy was close enough, however.

The heiress leaned as much as she could over to her left and extended her left hand. "Diamond! Take my hand!" she screamed out. The boy reached for her as well and the two Sinnoh Dex Holders managed to grab each other's hand before it was too late. The momentum of the boy's fall pulled the heiress off of the Giratina, again. But the girl once again grabbed onto the Giratina's side-spike with her other hand before it went out of her reach. "Ah! D – Diamond! Please hang on!"

Diamond looked up. Platinum appeared to be in excruciating pain, as her eyes were clenched shut and she kept groaning. He looked up higher and saw that she was holding on to the Giratina with her injured right hand… And Giratina thrashing around to deal with Darkrai wasn't helping at all.

"Lady…" he muttered. He realized that Platinum was not going to let go of him, especially after what happened to Pearl. Which meant that very soon, she would lose her grip on the Giratina and both Dex Holders would fall to their deaths.

"Agh… Diamond…" Platinum cried out. Tears started to fall from her eyes and she felt as if her right forearm was being torn apart. The wound hadn't healed yet, and this straining was making it worse. "Please… please hold on!" She clenched her teeth and focused all of her strength to her two hands. She had to save Diamond. She already lost Pearl in the same fashion when her right hand gave away. She couldn't let that happen to Diamond. She still felt overwhelming guilt to him, for walking away when he confessed to her. So no matter what happened to her, she would save him.

Diamond looked around. Giratina was too far away for him to reach it. Dialga hadn't yet recovered from the hits. No other Dex Holder or their Pokémon were remotely nearby, as they had to deal with the Unown swarm and the copies of the Sinnoh Dragons that have shifted their target. Which meant, no help would come in time.

Platinum screamed as she started to lose her grip. Diamond reached up with his other hand and touched Platinum's.

"Lady," he said. "… I'll always love you."

Platinum's eyes shot open as she realized what was about to happen. She looked down at Diamond and shook her head. "N – No! Diamond! I – I can save you! Please…"

Diamond closed his eyes and smiled. "I'm sorry… good bye."

Diamond let go of Platinum's hand. The girl held onto his hand as best as she could, but he kept slipping. The heiress clenched her eyes and tried to hold onto him. But he soon slipped out of her clutch, and in the process, the girl's diamond ring came off as well.

"No!" Platinum screamed as Diamond plummeted towards the ground along with her diamond ring. "Damn it!" she cried as she held on to the Giratina with both hands. "Diamond…"

The heiress soon forced herself to climb onto the Giratina again. The Darkrai had retreated, having satisfactorily completed its task. Platinum couldn't pay attention to that, however. She got her Giratina to fly down to the ground. She froze when she spotted Diamond's body in a puddle of his blood. She couldn't stand looking at him like this. But the Giratina landed nearby anyways, and the heiress stumbled off.

She staggered forward toward Diamond and noticed to her horror that he was dead. She hoped that he had miraculously survived, but that was impossible.

Platinum trembled violently as she dropped to her knees beside Diamond's body. Pearl's body wasn't too far away either, yet both boys were separated from her forever. And it was her fault.

"No," the heiress whimpered out as she pressed her hands on her temples. "No!" She began to frantically shake her head. "No! Diamond… Pearl… This can't be happening! Why did you two leave me? Why? … I – I'm all alone! … And it's my fault!" She pulled her hands down and looked at them. Her diamond and pearl rings were gone, fittingly. "… They're both gone… Gone… If I held onto them longer, if I…"

Platinum couldn't take it anymore. She burst into tears as she embraced Diamond's body. She didn't know what else to do. Diamond, the boy who loved her, and also the boy whom she walked away from due to panic, had sacrificed his life to save hers. The guilt was unbearable, and it tore away her will to do anything.

"I – I'm so sorry, Diamond," she sobbed out. "It's all my fault… all my fault…" She pressed her cheek against Diamond's bloodied face and wailed. "Why? … Why did you leave me? You said you loved me… You said you would always be there for me…"

Platinum completely ignored the massive battle still ongoing. She wasn't exactly ignoring it, but rather, she failed to notice anything. Nothing mattered anymore. And she was way too distressed to continue.

* * *

><p><strong>There is no WCHBWSHB for Pearl surviving, as I was 100% confident that it would not occur. Ever. And I was right. Screw Pearl. And Platinum uses contractions and informal language when she's: pissed off, mentally affected (drunk, in SR), or absolutely devastated (like right here).**

**And…**

* * *

><p>Alternate Lines (for lightening moodsilliness):

By the time Red and Diamond arrived at Platinum's side, the heiress was already dead. The girl had written her last words using her blood, however.

"_Senior, please tell Diamond that I ahh…"_

Red and Diamond stared at the message.

"… What?" Diamond muttered.

"She must've died while writing it," Red said.

"Oh, come on!" Diamond exclaimed.

"Well, that's what it says."

"Look, if she was dying, she wouldn't bother to _write_ "ahh". She'd just _say_ it."

"Well, that's what's written on the ground!"

* * *

><p><strong>These Alternate Lines of S-EARLY started after I realized I missed an opportunity in the early (heh) days of SA. There was a scene in which Blue said (about Sabrina) "going all psychic on me". A good alternative would be "going all Darth Vader on me", given the situation (one-handed telekinetic choking). To prevent losses of these types of opportunities yet still stick with the actual story, the Alternate Lines have been created. They pretty much <strong>_**always**_** have reference lines that do not ever work within the actual chapter, for a variety of reasons (non-existing stuff mentioned, wrong mood, plain silliness, etc). Like the one above. This rabble will be posted on my profile for easy access. Check under MISC – Alternate Lines.**

**And I will now hear your whines and cries regarding the deaths and demands for revivals (and I said "hear", not "listen"). And will compile/tally the reactions. Currently, on average…**

**Blue: "Aww…" and "Revive? Sure. Why not."  
><strong>**Gold: "The F*CK?!" and "Revive, damn it!"  
><strong>**White: "Meh" and "Meh."**


	40. Full Circle Part 2

**Objective: end SA before 2014. Almost there, I say.**

**Apparently I killed a Dex Holder who everyone wanted to protect by **_**not**_** picking her in the "Favorite 4****th**** Generation Dex Holder" poll. My bad. Still, not my fault. Hey, I wanted her to survive too.**

**And the painful battle continues! Painful for a few reasons. One, it's too damn big. Too many things everywhere doing too many things. Two, it's literally painful. Dex Holders are dying. And three, I don't like battle scenes. I'm prone to drift towards using game mechanics when I shouldn't be using them. Suppressing that was, is, and always will be hard work. And it's not like I can end the **_**final battle**_** too quickly. That'd suck. But at least after this, no overly huge battle scenes in any of S-EARLY+.**

**For the final battle, not all Legendaries are used. Those left out (ignoring Generation V and VI): Celebi, Jirachi, Heatran, Manaphy, Shaymin. The reasons vary. Celebi… is the worst base 100 all Pokémon of all time. Horrible typing, crap Ability, sad, sad move pool, and no alternate forme. And I hate that stupid thing. Jirachi wakes up for a week once every millennium, and it spent that week with Emerald already, therefore it's impossible to participate in this battle. It's still taking its long-ass nap. I don't really like Heatran. It couldn't do crap to Regigigas in the Pt arc, so it won't be of any use whatsoever here. There's already a completely useless Legendary in the battle right now. For Manaphy, digging into its relationship with the Dex Holders will result in the HGSS – DPPt 3 year link, which is impossible under Age Relations Edition III.5, which SA is using. And Shaymin is not appearing because it won't be able to do anything. Movie 11: Shaymin Sky Forme is utterly harmless to Giratina.**

**Besides, the base 100 all things are all going to be harmless in the battle (ignoring game mechanics). Except Mew. Because it's Mew. That pink thing's got a vicious streak a mile wide. It's a killer!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 35: Full Circle Part 2<p>

August 23, Solaceon Town, not-Sinnoh, 5 pm…

Crystal scanned the battlefield. For some reason, the Dex Holders suddenly seemed to have become disorganized. Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina were down, and Cresselia was heading over there to heal them. But the other Dex Holders had stopped attacking. It was as if something big happened that she didn't know about.

"What's going on?" Crystal asked Emerald through her headset. "Why aren't you attacking?"

"… Black's dead," Emerald replied a few seconds later.

"… What?" Crystal muttered in horror. "… We lost our fourth Dex Holder?"

From on top of Rayquaza, Emerald felt a huge pang of remorse upon hearing his senior's reaction. Even though Black died hours ago, he didn't tell her yet as he didn't want her to panic. Hearing her reaction, he believed that he made the right choice. For the same reason, he wasn't going to tell her that Pearl and Platinum have died as well. But he couldn't hide the fact that _someone_ had died.

"I – I… can't… believe it," Crystal stammered. "… Damn it… … We have to keep attacking… We can't stop now…"

After a quick wipe at her eyes, Crystal continued to give orders to lead the battle. She had to do it, for those who are still alive. She gave orders to the Sinnoh Dex Holders, unaware that two of the three were dead and the third was is no condition to do anything.

Diamond kept crying as he held onto Platinum's body. Red knelt beside him and patted him on the shoulder to try to calm him down. The Kanto champion was heavily affected by Platinum's death too, but there was a big battle for the fate of the world still going on and every Dex Holder needed to give their all in order to win.

"Dia, come on," he said. "We have to keep fighting. For everyone. If you stop now, Platinum's death would lose meaning. She gave her life in this fight. If we win because of it, her death would have meaning and purpose. If we lose, she would have died for nothing. So we have to keep fighting."

"But… why me? Why did she die to save me?" Diamond sobbed out. "It should've been me who died instead of her…"

Red let out a sigh. "… Platinum wouldn't want you to be like this throughout the rest of the battle. Now come on. Use your anger. Have your revenge against Storc by beating the copies and Arceus."

The idea of revenge seemed to have gotten through. Diamond gently embraced Platinum's body once more before he carefully set her down. After taking one last glance at her, Diamond ran towards his Dialga, which was being healed by Cresselia. Red looked at Platinum's body and sighed. She had promised him that she would not die as long as he needed her. And he promised her that he would look after her. It seemed that both Dex Holders have broken their promise. Platinum had apologized for that before her death. And it was time Red made up for his broken promise by avenging her death.

Soon, all the Sinnoh Dragons were fully healed and Diamond hopped onto Dialga. The three Dragons soared into the sky and began to attack their created copies with ruthless aggression. Diamond clenched his teeth. There was so much anger erupting inside him, he feared that he wouldn't be able to control it. But he didn't care. Control and the aftermath were irrelevant. He'd have his revenge, and he didn't care if it killed him too.

Diamond ordered Dialga to use close range attacks on the Dialga copy. He didn't care about the risks it posed him. He just wanted to make sure the damage was dealt. Instead of Dragon Pulse, he got Dialga to use Dragon Claw. He wanted to _see_ the attack hit. He'd destroy those copies if that was the last thing he ever did, and he was going to see the damages up close.

…

The Darkrai was the first to fall. The two Deoxys Individuals constantly bullied it to make sure it couldn't do anything. After it contributed to Pearl's death, Red decided that the Darkrai had to be taken out first and as such told the two Deoxys to constantly chase it.

The Darkrai kept trying to use Dark Void and Dark Pulse, but couldn't get through the Deoxys Defense Forme's barriers. Eventually, it took one too many Extremespeeds and fell from the sky, having no energy left to fight.

The two Deoxys circled around the Darkrai for a few moments to make sure it wouldn't get back up again. Afterwards, they charged straight towards Arceus to distract it some more.

Sapphire dropped to a knee as she shook her head to clear her vision. Everything was becoming blurry, but she still had to focus. She squinted at the battlefield and spotted the Dialga copy charging up a Roar of Time. She could tell that it was a copy, since the real Dialga had Diamond riding on it. And after Pearl and Platinum's deaths, the real Palkia and Giratina flew in close proximity to the real Dialga so they wouldn't be hit by friendly fire.

Sapphire quickly thought a chain of orders. The Kyogre immediately responded by dropping a giant Thunder on the Dialga copy. All the Legendary Pokémon around the Kyogre took the hint and attacked the Dialga copy. Diamond joined in as well, and used a triple Dragon Pulse from the real Sinnoh Dragons. The combined blasts left the Dialga copy critically damaged as it fell towards the ground. From afar, Mew dealt the finishing blow with a huge beam of psychic energy powered up by Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf. The beam hit the Dialga copy in the core and pierced through completely.

The surrounding Dex Holders cheered as the Dialga copy disintegrated and a damaged piece of the newly created Adamant Orb shattered on the ground.

Sapphire smiled even though her vision was turning bloody red. It was getting harder and harder to breathe. She couldn't maintain an upright position and slowly collapsed. It was much more comfortable to lie face down on the ground than standing up now. She still looked towards the battlefield while holding the Blue Orb firmly in her hand. Dying or not, she was still in the battle.

The leftover Unown swarm decided to target the individual Dex Holders instead of their Legendary Pokémon. The swarm flooded towards the nearest Dex Holder, which was Diamond. The Sinnoh Dex Holder gritted his teeth and yelled out an order to Palkia. The Spatial Pokémon bent space around the Unown swarm to trap them in a sphere. The Unown that tried to escape the sphere got hit by the barrier formed from bending the fabric of space instead. Palkia started to glow from the pink stripes all over its body. The core on each shoulder glowed as it utilized its spatial powers.

Diamond watched the sphere of bent space becoming smaller with the entire remainder of the Unown swarm still trapped inside. The sphere shrank more and more until each Unown was practically pressed into one another. The sphere continued to shrink, even though there was absolutely no more room to spare inside. With a roar from Palkia, the sphere rapidly shrank in size and exploded the moment it reached the size of Diamond's fist. When the smoke cleared, no Unown were left.

…

Sapphire started to gasp for air as breathing became almost impossible. Her vision had tunneled and she could only see the Kyogre. She had to continuously think orders and the Blue Orb kept draining her energy.

"N – No… damn it… I c – can't…" she gasped out as she forced herself to focus. She coughed up the blood gathering in her throat in an effort to make breathing easier. But it didn't get any better. "I – I… have to… fight…"

Sapphire tried to push herself off the ground but failed. With much effort, she looked at the Blue Orb still glowing in her hand. It was still emanating a light pressure around itself as it drew power from her body. She slowly closed her eyes. She couldn't see much anymore anyway. She had to reserve her strength as much as she could.

From afar, Crystal noticed that Kyogre wasn't attacking as much as it used to. She believed that it was just getting tired. She looked over at Groudon and noticed that it wasn't attacking as frequently either. With so many Legendary Pokémon starting to wear out, this all-out attack wouldn't last long.

"Everyone," Crystal said through her headset. "Attack the remaining copies. Isolate Arceus. I'll try to distract it as much as possible."

Groudon and Kyogre immediately responded, thanks to the Red and Blue Orbs. They both focused on the Palkia copy, and the Legendaries surrounding them shifted target as well. Silver led Lugia and Ho-oh to battle against the Giratina copy, along with the real Sinnoh Dragons led by Diamond. Emerald didn't attack yet. He simply watched the two remaining copies and attacked whichever one was trying to do a counterattack. Latias and Latios were doing the same thing, but up close.

Red and Green focused on distracting Arceus. With Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Mewtwo, Mew, and the Deoxys Individuals, they could successfully distract Arceus without taking too much damage.

Whenever Arceus focused on anyone else, Green got Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres to use Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and Flamethrower to the back of its head. And whenever Arceus came close to attacking the Legendary Birds, Red got his Aerodactyl to fly directly over the Arceus's eyes and the two Deoxys individuals used Psycho Boost to the side of its head. Mewtwo focused on attacking the infected Unown attached to Arceus and Mew focused on charging up its energy beam to blast Arceus whenever it charged up its own attacks.

…

Dialga and Palkia let out a loud roar as they charged up their signature attacks. Diamond directed the attacks at the Palkia copy. With the real Giratina distracting it, the Roar of Time and Spacial Rend managed to hit the copy dead on without allowing it to dodge by bending space around the attacks. Crystal ordered another salvo of the ultimate attacks at the Palkia copy the moment the Roar of Time and Spacial Rend hit. The resulting blast successfully destroyed the Palkia copy.

The Dex Holders cheered as the Palkia copy disintegrated apart and the damaged newly created Lustrous Orb shattered on the ground, but Diamond kept his teeth clenched in anger. This fight wasn't over yet. And he wasn't done avenging Platinum.

The Arceus saw the Palkia copy disintegrate. With a loud roar, it sent out an energy shockwave all around, pushing everything away from it. Once all of those pesky distracters were far away, it activated its Stone Plate and charged up Judgment to strike at the Legendary Birds.

Mew shot its giant beam of psychic energy at the forming Judgment. Mewtwo created a psychic tornado to propel two Psycho Boost attacks from the Deoxys Individuals directly at the forming Judgment as well. The forming Judgment exploded, knocking Arceus back. Taking advantage of the time it was stunned, the distracters charged forward again. Only about a third of the infected Unown remained on Arceus. The fight was nearing its end.

…

Ruby shook his head to try to get his vision to clear. Things were starting to appear blurry as the Red Orb drained more energy than his body would provide. But it wasn't that bad yet. He could still go on for a few more hours before the Red Orb would do any serious harm to him. His headset suddenly emitted a static as someone tried to contact him. Ruby shook his head once more and reached up to receive.

"… Ruby…" came Sapphire's voice. Her voice was barely audible from lack of strength.

"Are you doing okay?" Ruby asked.

Sapphire didn't answer his question. "… Ruby… tell Red… … I'm sorry…"

Ruby froze. His focus shifted completely away from the battle. "Sapphire? Sapphire!"

"… Sorry… Ruby… … I… always… loved you… ugh…"

"No, no, no! Sapphire!" Ruby cried through his headset. He didn't get a response. He quickly looked at the battlefield and noticed that Kyogre was no longer moving cooperatively. The entire Drizzle-section was no longer coordinated. "No…"

Ruby looked where Sapphire was supposed to be standing. She wasn't in sight. Then again, he had bad sight to start with. He quickly activated his Running Shoes and ran around the battlefield, ignoring the actual battle.

"Ruby! Sapphire! What are you doing?" came Crystal's voice from his headset. As per necessity, Crystal's headset could use a specific frequency that allowed her to give orders to all the other Dex Holders without having them to press a button to receive. It was handy, but at the same time, it did not allow a two-directional communication. "Focus on the battle! We almost have it won! … Ruby! Sapphire! … Damn it, Emerald! See what's happening!"

Ruby soon arrived at Sapphire's side. And immediately, he could tell that she was still alive. He quickly knelt beside her and grabbed her hand. Her eyes were still closed and she was barely breathing. The Blue Orb lay on the ground beside her, no longer in physical contact of the girl.

"… I… knew you'd… come," Sapphire muttered quietly. She managed to open her eyes just a little and looked up at Ruby. "… I waited… for you…"

Sapphire glanced at the battlefield and spotted Red and his Aerodactyl still distracting the Arceus. She wished to see her role model up close one last time, but she doubted that Red even knew that she was dying. She felt a tear forming in her eyes as she recalled how Platinum died. Red was there and witnessed the heiress's death. He even comforted her. And it bothered Sapphire greatly that he would not come for her death. But damn it, she didn't want to die feeling jealous. At least she had Ruby by her side…

"Sapphire, please don't die," Ruby said with a sob. Again, he found himself in front of a dying Sapphire. Though she survived last time because of quick medical response, this time, nothing would help her. She wasn't dying because of a critical injury, but rather, the Blue Orb draining all her life away. "If you die, I… I don't know what I'd do…"

Sapphire closed her eyes again. "You'll… be okay…" Her grip on Ruby's hand loosened significantly. But a faint smile formed on her lips. "… It's been… a hell of a ride, though…"

Ruby wiped at his eyes and in that instant, Sapphire's grip on his hand vanished and her smile faded as her last breath escaped her lungs. Upon realizing her death, Ruby fell down to the ground as he lost strength in his legs. With trembling arms, he pulled Sapphire close to him for a final hug.

From high above, Emerald looked down from Rayquaza. With a sigh, he reached up to his headset to contact Crystal. "… Crystal, Sapphire's dead."

"… What?" came the Johto Dex Holder's shocked voice.

"Sapphire died. The Blue Orb must've drained way too much energy."

"That's… … but…" Crystal stammered. "… How… … We lost our fifth Dex Holder?!"

Emerald let out a long sigh. He couldn't take it anymore. Sooner or later, Crystal would find out. And the longer it took her, the bigger the impact would be. "… More than that."

"What?!"

"Crystal… Pearl and Platinum are dead, too."

"… Two more? … Ah…" Crystal started to hyperventilate. "N – No… no… they're… they're all dying… because of me… … I – I…"

Emerald quickly interrupted her. "No, Crystal. This isn't your fault."

Crystal didn't listen though. "I – I killed them… it's… it's all my fault! I – I knew it! I – I'm not good enough to lead everyone! No!"

"Crystal! Listen! Crystal!" Emerald yelled, but his senior dropped communications. "Damn it." He looked around the battlefield. "Latias, Latios!" he yelled out as loud as he could manage. The two Eon Pokémon heard him and approached him within a minute. "You're no longer on distraction duty. Protect the other Dex Holders! And make sure they keep fighting!"

…

"Yellow!" Red yelled through his headset. "Yellow! Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina need your help!"

Yellow didn't respond. Red looked down from high in the air and spotted Cresselia sitting still on the ground. Yellow was lying on top of it and didn't appear to be moving. Red quickly got his Aerodactyl to swoop down to see what was happening. When he got close enough, he could see that Yellow was actually asleep, from having used her powers way too much.

Red landed near Yellow and ran up to her. "Yellow, wake up."

The girl stirred and struggled to open her eyes. "Huh? … Oh, right… sorry…"

"I know it's hard, but… you have to keep going."

"I know," Yellow mumbled out. "But my eyes keep closing on their own…"

Red glanced at the battlefield. "… Yellow… try to get some rest then. We'll do what we can."

"B – But… they need my help," Yellow said as she stifled a yawn.

"Rest up, Yellow. You won't last long like this."

Before Yellow could argue, Red got his Aerodactyl to carry him once more and went to join the battle once again. Yellow shook her head and slowly climbed back on the Cresselia.

Just as the Cresselia was about to lift off, the Giratina copy used Shadow Force to dodge all the incoming attacks and appeared right in front of the Cresselia. Yellow shook her head once again and realized her predicament.

The Giratina copy screeched and shot its tentacles at the girl. Yellow shrieked and tried to get the Cresselia to dodge. The tentacles didn't reach her, however. Red's Aerodactyl flew in the way and slashed at the tentacles with its wings, forcing the Giratina copy to dissipate its claws/tentacles.

The Cresselia took the time to hit the Giratina copy with Ice Beam. The attack did minimal damage, however, and the copy continued to attack Yellow. Red kept getting in the way to save Yellow and stall time for Emerald and Silver to come and attack the copy.

Yellow didn't know what to do. She wanted to help out Red. But she couldn't. Cresselia wouldn't be able to do anything against the Giratina copy. But Yellow didn't want to run away and leave Red alone with the copy either. She couldn't do that.

"Yellow! Run!" Red yelled out.

Yellow didn't move, but Cresselia quickly flew away from the Giratina copy. The Giratina copy swatted Red and his Aerodactyl away with its massive tail and used Shadow Force once again to block Yellow.

The copy shot a Dragon Pulse at the Cresselia. Yellow quickly got the Lunar Pokémon to spin around and fly away, but the Dragon Pulse was too big. The explosion would hit her hard anyways. Cresselia shot an Ice Beam at the Dragon Pulse to slow it down. But it was still fast enough to prevent escape.

"Damn it," came Red's voice from the headset, as the champion communicated with every Dex Holder. "… Green, Crys, everyone… Sorry. In this battle, you all need Yellow far more than me. You're on your own now. Good luck!"

Yellow gasped in shock. She spun around to look at Red and saw him charging straight towards the incoming Dragon Pulse while his Aerodactyl shot Hyper Beams.

Latias and Latios arrived and immediately tried to prevent Red from carrying out his sacrificial dive. But the Aerodactyl was faster than them. So instead, both Eon Pokémon used Dragon Pulse to try to lessen the damage of the Giratina copy's Dragon Pulse.

"No!" Yellow screamed just as Red and his Aerodactyl flew into the Giratina copy's Dragon Pulse. The combined attack of Aerodactyl's Hyper Beam and the Dragon Pulses from the two Eon Pokémon collided into the Giratina copy's Dragon Pulse, weakening it significantly. It still hit Red and his Aerodactyl with enough force to cause an explosion.

The Aerodactyl came out of the smoke and fell towards the ground. Yellow gasped in horror and got Cresselia to fly towards it as fast as possible. Latias and Latios watched the Aerodactyl fall for a split second before focusing on the Giratina copy.

Yellow jumped off of Cresselia and ran towards the fallen Aerodactyl. She pushed it off and spotted Red lying face down on the ground.

"Red!" she cried out as she knelt beside him. She carefully pushed him so he'd lie on his back. She then realized that half of his face was bloodied and burnt. But she avoided looking at the large wound and shook him by the shoulder. "… Red?"

The Kanto champion managed to open an eye. He managed to put a hand on Yellow's shoulder and gave her a warm, faint smile. Yellow let out a sob of relief as she believed that he would be okay. But very soon, Red's eye closed and his smile faded. His hand slipped off of Yellow's shoulder and the girl gasped in horror.

"… Red? … Red?" Yellow pressed her hands on her temples and frantically shook her head. "N – No… no!" Eventually she burst into tears and screamed. "NO!"

Diamond got the real Sinnoh Dragons to quietly land near Yellow. Yellow didn't notice them as she had her face buried in her hands. She only looked up when Dialga let out a low growl.

"Yellow… I'm so sorry," Diamond said quietly.

Yellow wiped away her tears but more kept coming. "He… he died to save me…"

Diamond felt his eyes moisten as he recalled Platinum's death. "… I know how you feel. But you have to keep fighting… for revenge."

Yellow kept sobbing but nodded. She understood what to do. She trembled quite a bit from shock, but still made her way towards the Sinnoh Dragons. They all reached down to her level and one by one, Yellow put a hand on their head and healed them as much as she could. Once she was done, she dropped to her knees next to Red and cried as she buried her face into his chest.

Diamond let out a long sigh as he kept getting reminded of Platinum's death. He glared at the Giratina copy still being pestered by Latias and Latios while engaging Emerald's Rayquaza and Silver's Lugia and Ho-oh. Diamond clenched his hands and teeth. Time to avenge Platinum's death. And Red's too.

Latias threw a ball of down at the Giratina copy's face. The Mist Ball attracted its attention and glared at the Eon Pokémon. Latios quickly flew in front of its face and unleashed a burst of blinding light. The Luster Purge blinded the Giratina copy for a short while, allowing enough time for the two Eon Pokémon to get out of the way of the incoming attacks. Lugia and Ho-oh chained together Aeroblast and Sacred Fire to badly burn the Giratina copy. Emerald's Rayquaza hit it right after with Draco Meteor. The real Giratina joined in on the Draco Meteor as well, and the hail of meteors pummeled the copy.

Diamond pointed at the copy to deal the finishing blow. Dialga used Roar of Time and Palkia used Spacial Rend once more. The Giratina copy hadn't recovered enough from the barrage of Draco Meteor to dodge the incoming attacks with Shadow Force. Instead, it could only try to lessen the impact with Dragon Pulse. Dialga used its temporal powers to accelerate its Roar of Time and Palkia's Spacial Rend, allowing the attacks to hit and destroy the Giratina copy before it could do anything.

Diamond watched the Giratina copy disintegrate and the damaged newly created Griseous Orb shatter on the ground. The one responsible for the deaths of Pearl, Platinum, and now Red has _finally_ been destroyed. Diamond closed his eyes and sighed. Platinum's death has been avenged.

Emerald used his headset to contact every other Dex Holder. "Alright. Time to attack Arceus! But don't waste energy. Attack like a wheel. Diamond, get the Dragons to attack Arceus and then back off. Silver, get Lugia and Ho-oh to attack right after, then back off. I'll attack after then back off too. Then Diamond, get back into the fight and back off. We'll repeat this until we win!"

All the Legendary Pokémon charged towards Arceus. As per plan, Diamond got the Sinnoh Dragons to use Dragon Pulse first. The moment the attacks hit, the Sinnoh Dragons backed away and Lugia and Ho-oh took over. After another salvo of Aeroblast and Sacred Fire, the two Johto Legendaries backed away. Rayquaza, Latias, and Latios attacked Arceus with a hail of Draco Meteor. When Emerald backed away, Green led every other Legendary Pokémon except Groudon and Kyogre to join in on a concentrated attack.

The Arceus shot out a shockwave of energy that forced everyone back. It charged up a Hyper Beam in a blink of an eye and shot it at Emerald. Latias and Latios quickly flew in to intercept the attack with Protect. The Hyper Beam broke through the Protect, however, and hit the two Eon Pokémon hard.

Emerald clenched his teeth as he watched Latias and Latios fall straight towards the ground. So it appeared that the Arceus still had a lot of power left.

…

Ruby looked up from Sapphire's body. Even though the copies of the Sinnoh Dragons were destroyed, with Yellow unable to heal anymore and Crystal no longer capable of giving out orders, the battle was quickly going south. Even though only a small portion of the Unown remained on Arceus, the situation was getting worse and worse.

The Arceus forced everything to back away from it and then used Blizzard to strike at the Sinnoh Dragons. Diamond huddled up to avoid getting frozen alive while the Sinnoh Dragons did all they could to withstand the attack. But eventually all three Dragons steadily dropped as parts of their body froze.

The Arceus continued to attack. It was getting very tired, but not nearly as much as the Dex Holders. With so many Dex Holders gone from the fight and so many Legendary Pokémon weakened so much, it wouldn't be long before Storc and Arceus won. Ruby clenched his teeth. He couldn't let that happen. He kissed Sapphire one last time and gently placed her body on the ground. He slowly stood up and reached up to his headset to communicate with the other Dex Holders still in the fight.

"Everyone, back away from Arceus," he said.

"What? Why?" Emerald asked back.

"Because this next attack is going to hurt," Ruby said. "Don't get in the way."

Ruby picked up the Red Orb with his right hand once more and felt it beginning to drain his strength. That was fine. He then picked up the Blue Orb with his other hand. It too, began to drain his strength. That was fine too. He closed his eyes and focused on giving all of his strength to the two Orbs. The symbol of the Red Orb began to move up his arms from his right hand. At the same time, the symbol of the Blue Orb burned in his left hand and began to move up. Soon, the two symbols would meet in his head as the two Orbs drained all of his energy. This would most likely kill him, just like it killed Sapphire. But it would overpower Groudon and Kyogre for a short while. Perhaps just enough to overpower the tired Arceus and knock off the rest of the Unown.

From on top of Rayquaza, Emerald saw Groudon and Kyogre beginning to glow red and blue respectively. Something was happening to them. He looked over at where Ruby was and noticed his left hand glowing dark blue and his right glowing dark red.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Emerald asked through his headset.

\ \_He is using all of his strength to overpower Groudon and Kyogre,_\ \ Latias said via telepathy as it struggled to get back in the air. \ \_He will die. But this will temporarily triple Groudon and Kyogre's strength._\ \

Emerald froze. Whether he liked to admit it or not (and he didn't), Ruby and Sapphire were… his friends. Sapphire already died. Though he hated to admit it, he didn't want Ruby to die too. "… Ruby?"

"I have to do this!" Ruby yelled. "I can't let Arceus win! For the sake of Hoenn and the world… for the sake of everyone who have given their lives in this fight… for the sake of all those still fighting… and… for Sapphire… If my sacrifice will end this fight, then so be it!"

The symbols of the Blue and Red Orbs reached Ruby's forehead. And in an instant, Ruby felt all of his strength draining away. The Groudon and Kyogre unleashed their absolute maximum strength. With a huge wave of scorching inferno coming from one side and a tidal wave of water from the other, the Arceus aborted its current attack and triggered its Splash Plate to lessen the incoming damage.

From on top of Moltres, Green gave everyone the final orders. "Alive or dead, everyone, give Arceus _everything_ you've got!"

Rayquaza and the other Dragons used Dragon Pulse with whatever power they had left. Those still on Kyogre's side of the battle hit Thunder. Those still on Groudon's side used Solarbeam. The other Pokémon scattered around used whatever power they had left to join in on the attack.

The series of Thunder hit first, and before Arceus could put the Earth Plate into effect. The Electric attack stunned it for a very brief moment, therefore not allowing enough time to prepare for the incoming Dragon Pulse, Solarbeam, and a whole ton of other attacks.

But the full powered attacks from Groudon and Kyogre took time to reach Arceus. Arceus shook away the effects of the attacks prepared to use Judgment to strike back against the incoming attacks.

From far away, Crystal lowered her hands from her face and saw the Arceus prepare. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and gritted her teeth.

"The hell you do…" she muttered. She berated herself for the deaths of all the Dex Holders in this battle. She will not stand and watch the last possible attack fail. She focused her attention to the 14 starter Pokémon. "… Final salvo of the ultimate attacks."

The 14 Pokémon gathered their last strengths and launched the ultimate attacks. The attacks would hit after Groudon and Kyogre's final attacks, however. If Arceus had enough time to lessen the impact of the two Legendaries' attacks, it would definitely have time to neutralize the ultimate attacks.

The Arceus suddenly flinched as something hit it in the face. The Judgment it was charging dissipated from sheer surprise as it shook away the effects of whatever hit it. From afar, Crystal smiled a little as her Xatu dropped down to perch on the handles of her wheelchair. The Future Sight had been successful.

The Arceus tried to charge up Judgment once more, but it didn't have nearly enough time to make the slightest bit of difference. The huge inferno from Groudon hit first, engulfing Arceus in a giant ball of hellfire. The tidal wave from Kyogre hit a second after. The continuous stream of fire and water met with Arceus in the center and continued until Groudon and Kyogre's powers depleted.

Once the attacks ended, Arceus remained floating high above the ground for a few seconds before it started to fall. But it fell slowly. It still fought. The 14 ultimate attacks hit it just as it started to rise. The resulting blast ended Arceus's fight and it simply dropped. But to make sure it wouldn't rise up again, the two Deoxys Individuals charged at it, changed into the Attack Forme and blasted it in the head with Psycho Boost at point-blank range.

Ruby dropped the two Orbs and watched the Arceus fall and hit the ground. The symbols of the Blue and Red Orbs have vanished, but his vision had tunneled and he couldn't breathe. But he fought as best as he could to watch the end of the fight. Once Arceus hit the ground, Ruby fell backwards as his legs gave up. Using whatever strength he had left, he crawled towards Sapphire's body and reached for her. His right hand soon grasped her cold right hand and held firmly.

He tried to say something but nothing came out. He could only smile at the victory and the relief he felt as he slowly joined Sapphire.

'_It's over… it's over… We did it, Sapphire… we did it…_'

Green got off of his Moltres once it finished landing/crashing into the ground next to Arceus. He slowly approached the massive Legendary Pokémon as Emerald's Rayquaza landed nearby, along with Latias and Latios.

"So is it over?" Emerald asked as he hopped off.

The Arceus started to rise up. Green and Emerald showed no hints of hostility, but the Arceus looked pretty angry as it towered over the two. The two Dex Holders quickly scanned the Legendary Pokémon. No Unown were in sight. Latias and Latios slowly flew around to make sure no Unown were attached out of sight.

The Arceus looked down at the two Dex Holders and for a few seconds, simply glared at them. Green and Emerald stood still to show that they meant no harm. The Arceus slowly looked over to the side, where a Xatu was approaching while carrying someone.

The Xatu dropped down and Crystal freed herself from its grip, carefully landing on the ground with her good leg. Emerald quickly rushed over to support her from the side. Crystal couldn't look at him. She couldn't bear knowing the fact that Ruby and Sapphire had died while in her command. And they were Emerald's closest friends (she knew). The guilt was too much to bear.

Crystal didn't look at Green either. She couldn't. She was afraid that the Gym Leader might judge her for what happened. 6 Dex Holders gone. It was a catastrophe. And since she was in charge of the battle, she was responsible.

Instead, she looked up at Arceus, hoping that it would recognize her. The Arceus seemed to have recognized her and slowly dropped its hostility towards the Dex Holders. But it was still angry. Very, very angry.

Crystal let out a short gasp as her repaired leg started to hurt. She wasn't putting any pressure on it, but it was hurting anyways. And that was because the Arceus had started to exude a massive amount of pressure as it glared up at the sky. The pressure was making it difficult to breathe. Green took a few steps backwards to leave the pressurized zone. Emerald slowly hobbled back as well, making sure Crystal's injured leg didn't touch the ground.

The Arceus let out a loud roar and soared straight into the sky. It charged up Judgment with all the power it had left and aimed at the Starmie floating high above…

The Dex Holders watched as a small beam of energy shot out from the Starmie and hit Arceus. The attack did absolutely nothing as Arceus launched the Judgment. The Judgment hit the Starmie and created a large explosion. When the smoke cleared, there was nothing left. The Arceus roared in anger again and ripped open a portal in the sky. Without even a second glance at the Dex Holders, the Arceus entered the portal, leaving the isolated dimension of what used to be Solaceon Town and returning to its own dimension.

Green stared at the portal until it faded away. With a sigh, he turned to look at Crystal. The girl kept her head down and avoided looking in his direction. Green gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder and slowly started walking.

The surviving Dex Holders still had one important task left. Proper funeral and ceremony for those fallen.

* * *

><p><strong>Final Dex Holder KIA list: Red (meh), Blue, Gold, Ruby (… damn), Sapphire (ouch), Pearl, Platinum, Black, White<strong>

**Current Death Reactions and Revival Pleas, on average (remember, these aren't **_**my**_** feelings):  
><strong>**Blue: "Aww…" and "Revive."  
><strong>**Gold: "The F*CK?!" and "REVIVE!"  
><strong>**Pearl: "Ouch" and "Meh."  
><strong>**Platinum: "Aww…" and "Revive, please."  
><strong>**Black: "Eh…" and "Nah."  
><strong>**White: "Meh" and "Nope."**

**And a third Triple Kill. Triple Triple. Now, where's that Daily Challenge? Side-objective completed: **_**No pairing should be left unharmed**_**. Spread the tragedy around!**

**And thus, all of Red team is gone. Platinum was supposed to survive to prevent an extermination, but… again, not my fault.**

**The final battle was divided into two to avoid having a 15000+ word chapter, and to avoid a Killtrocity. Having half of the survivors die in a single chapter wasn't going to be good.**

**The previous poll can now be viewed with hindsight. How many Dex Holders will die? 9 died in total. No more, no less. With the final battle over, no one else will die either. 5 of you were correct. And shame on the 2 of you who thought over 12 would die. This isn't SR!**

**That KIA list should be familiar. SR's Containment series has the exact same one, except Diamond/Platinum. Why? Because SR's Containment series has the KIA list of what should have happened in SA (which also means that this death list was predetermined a long time ago). See, I told you there was a reason why the Containment series appeared in SR before SA progressed far enough.**

**Next up: the concluding chapter of SA. That's right, folks. SA is finally almost over. In hindsight, the overall conclusion of SA is rushed. Blame the cancellation alert a long while back. That event brought a LOT of changes to SA.**


	41. Judgment

**Ah, the last chapter of SA is here… Interesting to note, that as of this chapter, SA officially has more chapters post-cancellation alert than prior. … Counting intermissions (20 chapters prior to alert, and this is the 21****st**** chapter since). Not counting intermissions, then there are 19 chapters prior to the cancellation alert (SA #020), and this is the 17****th**** chapter since.**

**So, 44 of the voters want revivals. 15 of the voters don't really have an opinion on the matter. Good for you, maybe. It's indeed unexceptional to be neutral. And 12 of the voters don't want anyone revived. Of those who want revivals, some want unconditional, which would make "death" only a temporary inconvenience. Some want conditional, or… a cost for each revival. Some only want a few people revived. Like 2 to 3 at most, out of 9. Well, this chapter will show you my decision.**

**By the way, in the previous chapter, some of you wondered what happened to Silver, Yellow, and Diamond, seeing how they weren't mentioned when Arceus stopped attacking. They were still alive. They just didn't go to Arceus at the end. Diamond stayed with Platinum's body, Yellow stayed with Red's, and Silver… just sat back and looked around the chaotic battlefield.**

**Oh, another thing. For quite a while now, I've been compared to one George R. R. Martin by a handful of reviewers. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea who the hell I was being compared to… until recently, when I saw his parody. … I sincerely hope that the parody is… a severe exaggeration and that I'm not being related to that guy on **_**that**_** aspect. What a f- Hopefully, it's just that whole "stall-spam" and "extermination" aspect that also appeared in the parody that I'm being compared to.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 36: Judgment<p>

Next day, August 24, Solaceon Town, Sinnoh, 12 pm…

The surviving Dex Holders gathered in front of the memorial service being set up in the center of what used to be Solaceon Town. Palkia had returned the warped dimension of Solaceon Town back to where it was, but the damages remained. There were no buildings left standing, and as it was the place where the final battle took place, the Pokémon Association of all the regions decided to hold the memorial service in Solaceon.

There were lots and lots of people gathered for the memorial service. Friends and family of Dex Holders, every Gym Leader and Elite Four willing to come, and everyone affected by the ShadowNet uprising and the Unown virus.

From front of the crowd, Crystal kept her head down. She couldn't stand looking at anyone else gathered around, and she was way too ashamed to even lift her face. She blamed herself for the Dex Holders' deaths in the final battle. And now that the families of the fallen have come, it was more than unbearable. She had to fight down the urge to simply leave to avoid the accusing glares. No one was actually glaring or even thinking such thoughts, but Crystal felt paranoid about it. Everyone looked at her with sympathy, but she saw their looks as accusations and contempt.

Emerald gently put a (fake) hand on Crystal's shoulder. "… It wasn't your fault," he said quietly.

"… Don't say that," Crystal muttered. Oh, the bitter irony. She lost count of how many times she told Gold that what happened to her wasn't his fault. And here she was now, hearing that same phrase from Emerald.

"We all knew the risks before going into the battle," Emerald said. "What happened wasn't your fault."

Crystal didn't bother replying and simply buried her face into her hands. Ignoring her emotions, the memorial service soon started. As the oldest of the Gym Leaders and Elite Four, Juan was chosen to deliver the opening speech.

Juan stepped up to the podium and took a few seconds to gather his thoughts. He glanced around the gathered audience and spotted Wallace. The Hoenn champion was still heavily affected by the loss of his disciple. Winona was sitting next to him, and she was feeling the same from the loss of her student. Wallace slowly extended a hand towards her and she took it. At least they could still comfort each other. Winona sighed and lowered her head as a tear rolled down her cheek. As sad as she was about the death of her favorite student, she was… proud at the same time to know that Sapphire sacrificed herself for the good of the world, not backing down even when her death was inevitable. It was as noble as a death could be.

Near the front, both of Platinum's parents were present, along with a handful of maids and servants who were particularly close to the fallen heiress. Sir Berlitz looked terrible. Prof. Berlitz didn't look any better either. Obviously, Platinum's death was very hard on them. Diamond was seated near the Berlitz family, but avoided looking in their direction at all costs.

Juan sighed before delivering his speech.

"For us, the storm has passed. The war is over. But let us never forget those Dex Holders who journeyed into the howling dark… and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure, sacrifice, and unshakeable conviction that their fight… _our_ fight, was elsewhere. As we start to rebuild, this town will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen. They ennobled all of us, and they shall not be forgotten."

The memorial service ended a few hours later, after all those willing gave their speeches. As people began to scatter, the Dex Holders silently prepared to go home as well. "Home" was, of course, Prof. Oak's lab, where the informal private funeral would take place once more.

With Mew's Teleport, the surviving Dex Holders returned to Pallet Town without any hassle. All the captured Legendary Pokémon were released, but those that were never officially captured to start with stuck around for the private funeral to pay their respects.

Green stood back and watched the private funeral. Normally, he'd have to say something like a eulogy, but he had no clue as to what to say. Instead, Yellow had taken that role. She looked terrible, of course. She had only recently confessed to Red after waiting around a decade, only to watch him die in the final battle after a sacrificial rescue.

Crystal sat in the front row with her head held low. She avoided eye contact with everyone and appeared to be afraid of looking up, too ashamed to have her head held remotely high. Green didn't know what to say to her. Was it her fault that 6 Dex Holders died in the final battle? Perhaps. If he had taken control instead, could he have saved some of them? Perhaps. Was he going to judge her for their deaths? Absolutely not. But he still wasn't going to talk to her. There was a slight chance that Crystal might blame him for putting the final battle under her control. It was very unlikely, but it was possible. And he didn't want to deal with that situation.

Emerald stood beside Crystal, doing his best once again to comfort her. And once again, he accomplished nothing. Green decided to leave him at it. Emerald was the best possible guard/watchman, should Crystal ever decide to take her own life to avoid the shame. Even though the Hoenn Dex Holder was suffering the loss of his (admittedly) closest friends, he kept down the sadness and focused on helping Crystal.

Diamond too, sat in the first row, with his face in his hands. He had finally confessed to Platinum, got rejected (or so he thought), and then watched her get killed as she sacrificed herself to save him. Then there was the death of his best friend that he knew probably as long as he could remember.

Silver was the only Dex Holder to not really be affected. His (admittedly) closest friend Gold had already died. His 'sister' Blue was already dead too. The only Dex Holder left that he really cared about was Crystal, and she was fine. Physically. As fine as she could get, given what happened.

Green glanced at Yellow. She was crying now as she talked about Red. Green let out a sigh and went back into the lab. Yes, Red's death hurt him greatly. His best friend and rival dead? He wasn't going to get over that any time soon. But everyone else was suffering too. He wasn't going to add to the sorrow. Instead, he headed towards his room, where he'd be able to brood in solitude. Again. And this time, no one would interrupt him.

But when Green got back to his room, he noticed that he received an email from Cynthia. Figures. He never had any alone-time. Someone always interfered, whether it was Blue, Crystal, or White. Now it was Cynthia. The email had the title of "Arceus", so he quickly sat down on his chair and opened it. If Arceus was still pissed off and wanted to do something about it… things would be messy. But luckily, the email was completely different.

The Sinnoh champion had compiled the data on Arceus from various mythology books and came to the conclusion that it may even revive two people in total. Green stared at the sentence. If only two were going to be revived, out of nine dead Dex Holders… things would be messy.

Green shook his head at Cynthia's message. She suggested that he tell the other Dex Holders and come to an agreement as to who would be revived. But the way he saw it, that would be absolutely disastrous.

Yellow would want Red to be revived. Silver would want Blue. Crystal would want Gold. Emerald… might want Ruby or Sapphire. Or just Gold for Crystal's sake. And Diamond would want either Platinum or Pearl. There would be no consensus, and if anything, there'd be arguments. And there were… Black and White. Just because none of the other Dex Holders really wanted them back, it didn't mean that both of them should be left out of the opportunity.

Green replied to Cynthia's email, telling her to keep quiet about it. He had a plan. He soon took his Pokéballs and went to find Mew, Latias, and Latios. He needed to find them without getting anyone's attention, which was a lot easier said than done, especially since all three Pokémon could turn invisible at will. But with his Scizor's help, he managed to find all three and silently pulled them away from the other Dex Holders.

"… Mew, take me to Celestic Town of Sinnoh," Green said quietly. "Latias and Latios, follow me."

The Mew nodded and in a blink of an eye, Green found himself Teleported to Celestic Town. It was the hometown of Cynthia, and he was going to find her. He needed to know the exact details of Arceus for his plan to work.

…

By the time Green found and entered the Spear Pillar, it was 6 pm. The sun was still high in the sky, but that didn't matter inside the Spear Pillar, as it was always illuminated somehow. The moment he entered, he spotted the hardlight staircase that led to the Hall of Origin. Surrounding the staircase were 3 distinct portals. One dark blue, one dark pink, and the other mirror-like. Obviously, the portals led to Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina respectively. Green ignored those. They weren't important right now.

Green stared at the ground where the hardlight staircase met the rest of Spear Pillar. There was a pedestal in front of the first stair, and the pedestal had a carved image of a flute. The Azure Flute. Cynthia had given him one for this particular mission. But seeing how the staircase was there right now, it appeared that the flute was unnecessary. Not that he knew how to play it anyways. No one did.

With Mew, Latias, and Latios following, Green began to ascend the stairs. The staircase was quite, quite tall, but it eventually led to a floor made entirely of hardlight. And in the center of the room, Arceus was standing, glaring at the uncalled visitors.

\ \_It wants to know why we're here,_\ \ Latias said via telepathy. \ \_Well, why __**you're**__ here._\ \

Green cleared his throat. "… I came to discuss the revivals of the Dex Holders who have fallen while protecting the world from great evil."

\ \_"No_,_"_\ \ Latias translated.

"Many Dex Holders have given their lives to save the world from evil. 6 died to free you from Storc. I think they deserve a second chance at life."

\ \_"Death is a consequence. It will not be reverted, no matter the deed of the fallen. Revivals will disrupt the balance."_\ \ Latias translated.

Green sighed. "If another great evil was to arise, no one will be able to stop them. With so many Dex Holders dead, we will not have enough strength. Please. Revive the fallen Dex Holders."

The Arceus maintained its glare for a short while before it started to glow.

\ \_"Very well. Two will be revived. Name them."_\ \ Latias translated. \ \_Quick, pick those you want revived, before it changes its mind._\ \

Green shook his head. "No. That is not acceptable. All the Dex Holders who died deserve an equal chance at life. If I pick two, then those who wanted one of the other seven will be very upset and heartbroken. I can't let that happen. Either everyone gets revived, or no one does."

The Arceus stopped glowing. Latias slowly shook its head.

\ \_"Then no one will."_\ \

A bitter smile appeared on Green's face. He slowly looked down. "… I am willing to accept any sacrifice necessary to make this happen. I don't care if I have to die to revive the others." He looked up at Arceus again. "The dead Dex Holders _must_ be revived. No matter the cost."

The Arceus calmly stared at Green as it scanned his mind. Countless number of people have died in the past two weeks. Reviving only nine would not take much effort. But reviving the dead would have consequences. Death must still remain ultimate. No one should be able to go back and forth between life and death again and again. Death must never become inconsequential. It must be permanent. There can be exceptions, but too many exceptions would make death seem only temporary. If there will be exceptions, there must be costs. Sacrifices. Ultimate sacrifices.

\ \_"Very well. 5 will be revived free of charge. The other 4 will require great sacrifices."_\ \ Latias translated. It hesitated as it translated the last part. \ \_"Each revival for the 4 will cost you 15 years of your life span. And of those revived, one will have their memories wiped clean. Death must remain serious. And all those revived will be at slightly better health as they were before their deaths." … Once everyone's been revived, you'll only have 3 months left to live. Are you sure you want to go through with this?_\ \ Latias asked after translating. \ \_You'll die on November 22. There's not a lot of time left…_\ \

'_Expiry on my birthday, huh? That's easy to remember…_' Green slowly nodded. "Yes. This must be done. And as the acting leader of the Dex Holders, it's my responsibility." He took a deep breath. "… This has to be done. So let's do it."

The Arceus began to glow once more and slowly lifted off the ground. A bright portal opened up in front of Green as energy began to gather. An image appeared in the portal. Image of a Dex Holder's death. It was Ruby. The Hoenn Dex Holder was collapsing beside Sapphire's body as he took his last breaths. The image soon faded and Ruby stumbled out of the portal, as if something had pushed him through. He had his normal clothes on, but they were completely grayish white, as if all the color had faded away.

The revived Dex Holder immediately collapsed on the hardlight ground. Green ran over to check his condition. He could feel the Hoenn Dex Holder's pulse. He was alive, although barely. He had died from having all of his energy drained by both the Red and Blue Orbs, and as such, the boy currently had no energy in his body.

"Mew, Heal Pulse! Save him!" Green said as he dragged Ruby away from the bright portal. "But save your strength. Just heal Ruby enough so he doesn't die again."

The Mew did as told and shot a small pink beam at Ruby to restore a bit of energy. Green didn't wait for Ruby to wake up. Instead, he focused on the bright portal once more.

Another image appeared on the portal. This time, it was Red as he took a Dragon Pulse from the Giratina copy in order to save Yellow. And similarly to Ruby, Red stumbled out of the portal. He was still covered in burns and wounds, to match his condition when he died. Green carefully dragged his best friend away from the portal, where Latios would use Heal Pulse to heal him slightly.

Mew stopped with the Heal Pulse when Ruby began to stir. The Hoenn Dex Holder struggled, but managed to open his eyes.

"… What…"

"Welcome back," Green said as he cast a glance at Ruby.

Ruby put a hand on his head and slowly sat up. "… What… … where…"

"Latias, fill him in," Green said. Again, he focused his attention on the bright portal. Latias approached Ruby and began to tell him where he was and what was happening. It didn't tell him of Green's sacrifice, however. Not yet.

Another image. This time, it was Sapphire as she slowly closed her eyes as the Blue Orb rolled away from her hand. Just like Ruby, Sapphire died because the Blue Orb drained way too much of her energy. But when Green caught the girl as she was flung out of the portal, he could see that her previous injuries have retained as well. The bandages weren't present, but Green could see the bleeding wound on her shoulder, made from the ShadowNet weapon a while back. And as he dragged her over, he could see the girl's faded-out clothes beginning to turn crimson in the chest as the wound in the girl's chest was bleeding. Mew focused its Heal Pulse at her so she wouldn't die. Ruby gasped in shock and happiness from seeing Sapphire revived (though she was still unconscious) and crawled over towards her.

Green watched the two Hoenn Dex Holders and smiled. So his sacrifice was well worth it…

Platinum was next. The bright portal showed the image in which the heiress was impaled by the Giratina copy's claw. The heiress was soon shoved out of the portal and collapsed onto the hardlight ground. Green gently lifted her and again noticed that her injuries have retained as well. And she had a _lot_ of injuries prior to her death. The heiress was going to need quite a lot of time under the Heal Pulse to stay alive. Green moved her towards Latios and quickly checked to see if she had her RLS system on her. No. She didn't. So another one had to be made. Maybe in the 3 months he had to live, he could improve that system to better protect the other Dex Holders.

Next up was Pearl. His death involved falling from an incredible height, so he was going to need quite some time under the Heal Pulse too. He probably still had a lot of broken bones. The specific cause of his death was fixed, as Green noticed, as the Sinnoh Dex Holder's spine was in one piece. Good.

Green let out another sigh. Starting from now, each revival was going to cost him 15 years of his life. A total of 60 years gone, for reviving 4 Dex Holders. But one of these Dex Holders will have their memories wiped. Which one should he pick for that? … The answer was obvious.

Black was revived next. The Arceus was obviously reviving Dex Holders in the reverse order of their deaths. Which meant, Blue would be revived last. … That was okay…

While Latias explained what happened to those Dex Holders who regained consciousness, Green stared at the portal. This next revival was very important. … Of course, all the other revivals were important too. But this one… … Green intended to retire as a Dex Holder. He had to now, since he had 3 months left to live. Which meant, he would effectively pass the torch to Crystal. And Crystal desperately needed Gold.

The bright portal showed the final explosion that destroyed ShadowNet's last forces. The explosion hit Gold and in the process, his billiard cue had stabbed through his chest, which killed him.

Gold stumbled out of the portal and collapsed on the hardlight ground. Green carefully pulled him away. Yep, the goggled boy was bleeding from his chest, as the billiard cue created wound was still present. Either Mew or Latios or Latias would heal that wound partially with Heal Pulse.

The bright portal showed another image. This one had the Ursaring of the ShadowNet boss stabbing White with its claws. The girl was killed from the heavy injuries caused by those claws, and those wounds remained on her as she stumbled out of the portal. Once again, Heal Pulse would save her. Though barely. The three Legendary Pokémon haven't fully recovered from the final battle against Arceus, and Yellow had been too distraught to heal them. As such, they couldn't maintain Heal Pulse for too long. Which explained why only Ruby and Red had regained consciousness still.

Red forced himself up after gently setting Platinum's unconscious body on the hardlight ground. He wanted to see Blue get revived. She was a very close friend and he wasn't going to stay seated for her revival.

Green shook hands with his best friend when he got close. Latias slowly approached him.

\ \_This one will have her memories wiped. Are you sure?_\ \

Green nodded. He looked at Red and sighed. "… Red, I'm sorry. But Blue… will have her memories wiped clean."

"What?"

"… Many sacrifices had to be made to make sure everyone got revived," Green said quietly. "… Sorry. Someone had to get their memories wiped."

Red didn't look too happy. "… But why Blue? You love her! And she's a close friend. I don't want to lose her."

"… I know. But… it's better for everyone," Green said. "… Including her. Remember, Red. Blue never liked her past. She never liked her memories. And right now, her home is destroyed and her parents are dead. She saw their corpses burnt to a crisp. … Blue is better off with her memories cleared."

Red looked down. "… But… Blue…"

"I know. It hurts me a lot more than it hurts you. … She said that I didn't care for her. She said that I wouldn't come to her rescue. I couldn't save her. If she remembers all that, I… wouldn't even be able to look at her. And she wouldn't look at me either. This… is for the good of everyone."

The bright portal closed and Arceus slowly descended. Because Blue's memories would be wiped clean, she would not be revived here. Green wiped away a tear and looked at the other Dex Holders. A few more Dex Holders were starting to wake up. Good. When they were all awake, he'd tell them what was going to happen. … Maybe he'd wait until everyone returned to Pallet Town.

The Arceus let out a roar and soon vanished through its own portal. The Hall of Origin began to fade. Ruby lifted Sapphire onto his back and walked down the hardlight stairs to get to the Spear Pillar. Red lifted Platinum onto his arms and did the same. Green carried White and followed. Latias, Latios, and Mew lifted the others with Psychic and descended to Spear Pillar before the Hall of Origin completely vanished.

Green sat down on the cold ground of the Spear Pillar and waited for the other Dex Holders to wake up. Ruby returned to tending Sapphire. Red did the same with Platinum, but kept sighing as he thought about Blue.

Gold stirred awake. His chest wound had healed just enough thanks to Heal Pulse, and as such, he was no longer bleeding.

"Ugh… … I thought a revival would be painless," Gold muttered once he got his bearings. Once he shook away the dizziness, he took a look around the area. There were… quite a lot of Dex Holders. "… What'd I miss?"

As Red explained to Gold what happened after his death, including Crystal's reactions, Black stirred awake, along with Sapphire. While Black went to tend White the moment he realized what happened, Sapphire embraced Ruby in a near choking embrace. Again, Green silently watched the two happy Dex Holders hug and kiss. His sacrifice was definitely worth it.

Once every Dex Holder was awake, Green proceeded to explain what happened since the final battle against ShadowNet. The revenge against the ShadowNet boss, the rise of Storc, Crystal's change, and the final battle. Gold slowly shook his head as he realized that his sacrifice and atonement caused Crystal more harm that he thought.

White took a look around the Spear Pillar. "… Where… where's Blue?"

"There… had to be severe consequences for the revivals," Green said. "… As such, Blue will have her memories wiped clean before being revived." He took a deep breath before continuing. "There are… other consequences. I will explain those once we return to Pallet Town."

"So no one knows that we've been revived?" Sapphire asked, her voice still a little hoarse.

"Yes," Green said. "So make sure you don't surprise the others too much. Especially you, Gold. You don't want to give Crystal a heart attack."

"So, are we set to go back, or what?" Gold asked.

"… We are. Mew will take us back shortly. Once everything's been explained, all of you will go to the nearest hospital to get yourselves checked out. Don't ever mention the revivals to anyone. If anyone asks, just say that Arceus revived you and you don't know how and why."

"Alright. Let's go."

Platinum took a deep breath as she recalled her last encounter with Diamond, before she died. She was currently avoiding contact with Pearl, even though she was very happy to see him alive. Once she returned to Pallet Town, she was going to have to avoid Diamond too. After she 'rejected' his confession, she felt rather afraid to talk to him. But now, she may have no choice.

…

Crystal sighed for the 100th time as she tried to calm down. It was hard. Even though she had isolated herself from everyone else, near the lake in southern Pallet Town, she could still feel their accusatory glares. Even though no one was actually looking at her direction. Except Emerald, who kept a close eye on her at all times.

Crystal forced herself to look away from Emerald's direction. Every time she was around him, she felt nothing but guilt. Guilt from Ruby and Sapphire's deaths, and even more guilt from having him constantly take care of her while she basically ignored him (though it was unintentional). Again, she buried her face into her hands.

"Feeling down, Super Serious Gal?" came a very familiar voice from behind.

Crystal perked up. But she soon shook her head. "… I'm going crazy…"

"Not really. No," said the familiar voice again. "Though as everyone always said, I might drive you crazy."

"Is… Is my mind playing tricks on me?" Crystal muttered. She was breathing heavily now as she pressed her hands over her heart. But she still pushed her own wheelchair to turn around.

"Surprise, Super Serious Gal!"

"… Gold…"

"Hey, Crys! I'm back!"

Crystal simply blinked in disbelief. Was this a dream? If so, she didn't want to wake up. If not… She mustered enough strength to push herself off of her wheelchair and practically jumped onto Gold for a tight embrace.

"Gold! You jerk!" she cried out. "You jerk! You jerk! How could you leave me like that?! How could you… I missed you so much, I… …"

Gold patted Crystal on her back and gently kissed her. "I missed you too, Crys. And I'm sorry for what I did. I promise that will never happen again."

"But… how? How are you back?" Crystal asked through her tears.

"I don't know. When I woke up, senior Green was there with everyone revived. … Except senior Blue. But senior Green will explain that. But that's for later. For now…"

Gold kissed her some more and held her close. Crystal still cried, but in happiness. She still called him a jerk, though. But he was back. That's all that mattered.

…

Green stood in front of everyone once more. He could see all the happy Dex Holder pairs, all holding hands and with big smiles on their faces. … Except for Diamond and Platinum, who sat in opposite sides of the group.

"Green," Crystal started. "… Thank you so much. I… I really don't know what to say…"

Green didn't respond. When she found out that he was sacrificing his life for this… Instead, he just sighed.

"… I know that you're all happy to see everyone alive," he said eventually. Even though Silver wasn't happy to know that Blue wasn't around. "But… this revival wasn't without its cost."

"… Blue's memories are wiped clean," Red said with a sigh. "It was a part of the cost. One of us needed to have our memories wiped as a sacrifice for the revival. Green decided to choose Blue."

"What?! Why?!" Silver demanded.

"It's for her own good," Green said slowly. "You would know this better than me. She never liked her memories. Her past. Her experiences. Even now, her house is destroyed and her parents are dead. It's better off for her that she doesn't remember anything."

"But… what about you?" White asked. "You love her…"

"That's irrelevant," Green replied. He was going to tell everyone of his upcoming death, but decided not to. Everyone was happy right now. He wasn't going to let them know that their happiness was the result of his death. "For those who were revived, go to the hospital to check yourselves out. And Red, take over the Viridian Gym for a while. I want to take a break from it." '_Permanently…_'

"No problem," Red said as he kept his arm around Yellow in an embrace. "I guess then I'll be even closer to you, huh, Yellow?"

Yellow smiled brightly and nodded. "Thank you!"

Green smiled bitterly. '_If you only knew…_' "… That's all, everyone. Go back to your homes and relax. We won. We all deserved this rest."

With a cheer of victory, the Dex Holders steadily scattered. Red and Yellow headed up to Viridian City. Gold took Crystal back to Johto. Silver began his search all around Kanto and Johto for Blue. Ruby and Sapphire checked into the nearest hospital for a checkup before heading to Hoenn. Emerald went back to Violet City to help rebuild the city. Platinum basically fled back to Sandgem Town while Diamond and Pearl went back to Twinleaf on a separate boat. Black and White headed back to Unova, which left Green alone in Pallet Town.

Green let out a long sigh. His sacrifice… was definitely worth it.

* * *

><p><strong>Final Dex Holder MIA list: Blue. Damn. Oh well, there goes the status quo. But no one's dead now, even though <strong>_**some**_** of you wanted Black and White to remain dead. Too bad. **_**Leave no one behind**_**.**

**And in Juan's speech, instead of "this hillside will remain barren" to match the quote that I'm using, he says "this **_**town**_** will remain barren". There goes Solaceon Town. Forever. Good. Never liked that place. Then again, the whole revival kind of screws with that memorial speech.**

**So in the end, I decided to revive everyone… but at a cost. I won't let SA become like those shows in which death becomes more of a temporary setback/obstacle, where the dead are literally just **_**waiting**_** to go back. But the revival still bothers me, and the idea itself has bothered me ever since the start of SA. But damn it, the decision to revive them all was made 1.5 years ago for a reason. Namely, there can't be an SA2 if everyone's dead (or most of the important ones). Who cares about Black and White? There can't be an SA2 if Gold and Platinum are dead, damn it. And Ruby and Sapphire too.**

**Anyways, SA has finally ended. The story that I've been working on since long before SE. That only officially started after SE #019. It was once my pride and joy. And it was supposed to remain as such. But it resulted in a cancellation warning instead. It forced me to create SL and SY for my search for the new 'pride and joy', not that I like them enough for them to receive that title (damn).**

**SA was technically the first story to feature Dex Holder deaths. Chronologically, SE did it first (SE #004), and SR had the infamous Containment series (SR #016 – #018), but both were **_**inspired**_** from SA. SA was technically my first Pokémon Special story. SE just appeared chronologically first because SA took forever to get off the ground.**

**It also created the "news" section on my profile page as an attempt to answer reviewed questions, provide update progress, and possibility of impending cancellation. Like SA at the time, the news idea didn't go anywhere, so it was scrapped when the cancellation alert was released.**

**SA also started the whole "faithful reviewer" thing, as an attempt on my part to remember those who regularly review every update. Easy to remember, as there were only 3 until the cancellation alert, then hard to remember as that number increased to like 12. The majority of them never showed up for the final third of SA. I will now honor those who have fallen into the MIA list. … … I don't remember them, seeing how I can't remember them if they don't show up. Oh well. For those who are still around, I'm sure you know who you are. I won't list your names/ID, because I have never done such a thing and never will. But still, thank you very much for your continued support.**

**In the end, I harbor no negative thoughts toward SA. If anything, I feel neutral. While I might be a bit sad to see it end, I'm happy that I get to finally pull the trig… I mean… allow it to end on its own. I still stand by the cancellation alert and all of its consequences. For those who have stuck around with SA since the beginning (whether you reviewed at all or not, doesn't matter now), 'fought' through the dark times that lasted 15 chapters, I thank you. Through 36 chapters, 4 crossover intermissions, 1 special intermission, and 1004 references (which in itself is a reference), it's been a bumpy and yet good-to-decent ride.**

**Thank you all for reading this. I was originally going to list every reference (and the original material) that I used in SA, but I decided against it when I realized that would take up over a full chapter's length. I think it was a good call. Instead, there are some SA milestones and facts/stats about them posted on the bottom. Quite a lot of "WCHB" moments for those milestones that never got listed. See what SA would've become, for those milestone chapters.**

**And now, here's what should've happened in SA, had I followed the actual plans (namely, if the results of the "Favorite 4****th**** Generation Dex Holder" poll allowed Platinum to be spared).**

* * *

><p>What <em>Should<em> Have Been:

Conditions:  
>Platinum is chosen to be spared in SA.<p>

…

Crystal slowly pushed the wheels of her wheelchair to exit the lab and into the backyard. She just couldn't summon enough courage to face anyone, especially Emerald. No matter how many times the Hoenn Dex Holder told her that the deaths of Ruby and Sapphire were not her fault, she still felt overwhelming guilt. … Perhaps this is what Gold felt towards her, and what made him sacrifice himself.

Crystal stopped in front of the tombstones of the fallen Dex Holders. No matter how horrible she felt, her misery could not possible match that of another surviving Dex Holder.

Platinum still remained seated in front of the tombstones, hugging her knees with her face buried in her arms. The heiress constantly trembled and rocked back and forth while occasionally shaking her head.

"… Platinum?" Crystal called. "… How are you doing?"

"… They're… they're all gone," Platinum mumbled out, her voice hoarse from crying so much. "I – I'm all alone…"

Crystal forced herself off of her wheelchair and sat beside the sole survivor of the Sinnoh Dex Holders. "… I know it hurts…"

The heiress frantically shook her head. "No… you don't know… … Junior Black, senior Gold, senior Sapphire… … senior Red… Pearl… … Diamond… they're all gone…"

Crystal gently put an arm around her junior's shoulders. Of course she knew what the heiress was going through. Her two closest friends have died. And from what she heard, both Diamond and Pearl died while Platinum tried to save them. The heiress blamed herself for their deaths, and it was driving her crazy. But at the same time, she was also the sole survivor of her entire team. Everyone in Red team was gone, except for Platinum. And that fact was traumatizing her just as much.

Platinum suddenly pulled away from Crystal. "Stay away from me!" she yelled out. Crystal simply blinked, surprised by the sudden reaction. "Please… stay away from me!"

"… Platinum?" Crystal muttered as she examined her junior's expression. The heiress's bloodshot eyes showed clear hints of instability.

"… Everyone… around me died… I – I won't be responsible for more!" the heiress cried out. "Senior Blue… every team member… Pearl… Diamond… they all died… I – I won't be responsible!"

"… It wasn't your fault," Crystal said quietly. How many times has she heard that phrase? She said it to Gold so many times, and Emerald said to her so many times too. And now, here she was, saying it to Platinum.

Platinum demonstrated another sign of mental instability. She suddenly looked down at her hands and her sudden outburst of frantic shouts changed into utter sadness. She looked at where she always wore her diamond and pearl rings. The rings were gone, just like the two boys of the same name.

"… Gone… … gone…" she whimpered out. "If I… if I was stronger…" The distressed girl suddenly clutched at her injured forearm. "This… caused me to lose my only friends… … my fault… all my fault…"

"Listen," Crystal tried to say, but the heiress wouldn't let her.

"H – How… how can I live on? … Everyone died but me… how can I… … It's not right… I must… … it's my fault… my fault…" Platinum suddenly stopped crying. "… I – I will do what's right… What needs to be done…" She struggled a lot, but managed to stand up. "Senior Red… Pearl… Diamond… I will join you…"

Crystal jumped in surprise. "Whoa! Platinum!"

The heiress headed towards the lab just as Crystal tried to reach for her. But Platinum was still very unstable. She managed to take two steps before she fell down. The heiress looked up at the lab but didn't try to crawl towards it. She did make a promise to Red and Diamond that she wouldn't try to kill herself again. But both Red and Diamond were dead, and Platinum didn't know what to do anymore. Instead, she buried her face into her arms again and cried.

Crystal slowly made her way towards her junior once more. The heiress needed… lots of time and support to get through this, it seemed. She gently pulled up and embraced the devastated girl, and the heiress let herself be embraced. Platinum soon buried her face in Crystal's uninjured shoulder and cried. The Johto Dex Holder sighed as tears fell from her eyes as well. She gently patted Platinum on the back to cheer her up and hoped that she could cheer herself up as well. But it was very hard.

Before long, Crystal started to cry as well. This life… wasn't living. The survivor's guilt was way too much, to the point where it would've been much better to have been the ones who died.

From the second floor of the lab, Green watched the two girls cry through the windows. While every Dex Holder suffered loss recently, Crystal and Platinum suffered the worst. Green sighed and slowly walked away. With Charizard's Pokéball in hand, he headed out of the lab to find Latias or Latios. There was something… _important_ he had to do.

* * *

><p><strong>See, stuff make more sense if Platinum was spared. The whole "Platinum's ring" thing makes sense if both Diamond and Pearl died instead of only the latter, and with all of Red team and the Sinnoh Dex Holders gone except for Platinum, the whole "survivor's guilt" would be much more intense, which is what convinced Green to make enough sacrifices to revive all the dead Dex Holders. … It also makes SA filled to the brim with Platinum-bullying.<strong>

**And once again, Alternate Lines for last minute reference/silliness. This would've occurred had Green told everyone about reviving only two Dex Holders at first.**

* * *

><p>Alternate Lines:<p>

"Only two people can be revived?" Yellow muttered. "Then… _seven_ Dex Holders will be left behind…"

"I guess we should ask Emerald what he thinks," Crystal muttered as she turned to look at her junior.

Emerald inhaled just slightly so that he could talk.

"-"

"No one cares what Emerald thinks!" Silver yelled out before Emerald even had a chance to say a single syllable. "Sis is getting revived, _for sure_."

Emerald grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms. "… I feel _so _appreciated…"

* * *

><p><strong>And now to post some factsstats about SA, around important milestones.**

**Start of SA (SA #001: The Package):  
><strong>Word Count: **4423  
><strong>Total Review:** 35  
><strong>Comment:** There were like 5 different versions of SA #001. 3 of which included Soul from the HGSS games, as the HGSS arc wasn't released and as such, I didn't know that Soul did not exist. 3 versions of Soul's appearance too. 1: She's Gold's childhood friend to match the games, 2: She's a fan of Gold, or 3: She's just someone moving in next to him. And right from the beginning, there was supposed to be Sapphire vs. Platinum, had Platinum gone to Hoenn first like in one of the early versions. That rivalry/fight never occurred in SA, but it did spawn 3 separate editions in SR/SL/SY.**

**Rise of ShadowNet (SA #008: Operation: UPPERCUT):  
><strong>Word Count: **3939  
><strong>Total Review: **19  
><strong>Comment: **The first (and only) chapter to not feature any Dex Holders. Not a very successful chapter. Maybe non Dex Holders shouldn't make that much of an appearance.**

**Official start of ShadowNet vs. Dex Holders (SA #012: Once More Unto the Breach):  
><strong>Word Count: **5783  
><strong>Total Review: **13  
><strong>Comment: **Took long enough. Seriously, 11 chapters before the official clash. Maybe aggressive progression was necessary.**

**Start of Intermission (SA-I 1: The Armory):  
><strong>Word Count: **5305  
><strong>Total Review: **18  
><strong>Comment: **My jab at the first crossover. So many insults lost because of the mechanics. No possible way of saying: "You have 17 years of battle experience, and you lost to a couple of BUGS, both of which you had TYPE ADVANTAGE over! Your Pikachu, which had 10 years of battle experience, fell to a **_**Magikarp**_**. 7 years later, with 17 years of experience, it fell to a **_**Surskit**_**." (from XY 5). Then again, he's still ten. Must've been a hell of a year.**

**Start of Cancellation Thought (SA #017: Walk It Off):  
><strong>Word Count: **6979  
><strong>Total Review: **9  
><strong>Comment: **SE Preview Scene #2. Took a lot of effort to make this chapter. And had the single most game-quotes taken in all of SA. A game-quote got cut off here, though. Only "See? It made him stupid" and not the "I told you. Dumb as a sack of rice" at the end.**

**Cancellation Decision (SA #019: Nightfall):  
><strong>Word Count: **4155  
><strong>Total Review: **7  
><strong>Comment: **The original form of SE #014: Stranded. Only Gold and Crystal, and on an event-only island. Also took quite a lot of time. Had to make Navel Rock as accurate as possible. I believe that was a complete waste of effort.**

**Cancellation Alert (SA #020: Revelation):  
><strong>Word Count: **4611  
><strong>Total Review: **26  
><strong>Comment: **The start of massive changes within SA thanks to the cancellation alert. The start of aggressive progression: less stalling with ShadowNet, less appearance from non Dex Holders, and more bad stuff happening. Proven by rapid extermination of Blue's parents, who weren't supposed to appear at all (apart from phone calls).**

**Fall of ShadowNet (SA #025: Uprising):  
><strong>Word Count: **6004  
><strong>Total Review: **34  
><strong>Comment: **Massive compression. Platinum's suicide attempt remained from original plans, but the full process was lost. Platinum was supposed to return home under her **_**father**_**'s orders, be treated horribly for several days due to something else happening in the mansion, be silently rescued by Blue, and then be disowned for fleeing. Due to SA's aggressive progression, this was no longer possible, and as such, Platinum was disowned for something stupid.**

**ShadowNet's Final Assault (SA #028: Final Run):  
><strong>Word Count: **11317  
><strong>Total Review: **61  
><strong>Comment: **Valentine's Day present! And the SA version of SE #16: Distress. My gift for those who believed that I would constantly tease death but never actually kill anyone. So here's to ya! And proof that Black and White have no place in SA, by brutally and abruptly (and unnecessarily) killing White. They already got more glory than they were supposed to by involving themselves in the battle of the main base. And for the record, I don't hate White. She's my… 9****th**** favorite Dex Holder out of 15, and probably around 12****th**** or 13****th**** out of 19.**

**End of ShadowNet (SA #029: The Library):  
><strong>Word Count: **6367  
><strong>Total Review: **24  
><strong>Comment: **Finding the ShadowNet boss was supposed to take a long time. Search up and down the entire library, find the secret tunnels below, fight through last ShadowNet resistance, and then find out what exactly the boss had in mind. SA's aggressive progression canceled that plan.**

**Rise of Storc (SA #031: 100,000 Year's War):  
><strong>Word Count: **5890  
><strong>Total Review: **21  
><strong>Comment: **I actually forgot to add a few tidbits to the fight of Groudon and Kyogre. As a result, the fight was… short. And Arceus was supposed to stir up more Legendary fights that required Dex Holder intervention. Again, SA's aggressive progression.**

**End of Intermission (SA-I 4: Return to Sender):  
><strong>Word Count: **3996  
><strong>Total Review: **19  
><strong>Comment: **So many scenes lost, so many insults lost, damn it. Satoshi/Ash aiming to become a Pokémon Master is like using Dedenne to beat an RNGer's Garchomp. Or a noob trainer aiming to beat an RNGer in Wifi Random Matchup. Or the Battle Frontier AI trying to beat a glitcher by spamming hax. It just ain't gonna happen. Anyways, in hindsight, a full crossover story might've fared better than just 4 Intermission chapters, but that'd be stupid. … Yeah, stupid. … … Stupid? …**

**Special Intermission (SA-SI: Full Contact Safari):  
><strong>Word Count: **5005  
><strong>Total Review: **19  
><strong>Comment: **Did not accomplish what I thought it would accomplish, which was… something. I forgot. There was supposed to be a scene where Red goes off to find Mew in Faraway Island and do the in-game event of playing hide and seek, but I realized that would be way too similar to what happened in an anime-based story I made and deleted (the ONE scene I actually remember from it), so it was scrapped. And I regret that decision. This chapter was supposed to feature a LOT of in-game events and layouts. Birth Island, Faraway Island, summoning Dialga/Palkia in Platinum, Uxie/Mesprit/Azelf in the lakes, Southern Island, etc. Only the Southern Island one remained, because of… aggressive progression. Shouldn't stall the final battle too much.**

**Start of Final Battle (SA #034: Full Circle Part 1):  
><strong>Word Count: **8789  
><strong>Total Review: **34  
><strong>Comment: **Platinum was NOT supposed to die. And I believe the original SA plans had a fusion of Dialga and Palkia copies to match that statue in Eterna City of Sinnoh. Scrapped that idea partly because I thought Giratina copy would be left out, didn't know what to call the fused thing, and mostly because of… aggressive progression. Explaining where that thing came from and the lengthy process of taking it down would take forever.**

**End of Final Battle (SA #035: Full Circle Part 2):  
><strong>Word Count: **6828  
><strong>Total Review: **27  
><strong>Comment: **Arceus did not go out with a bang. Maybe it would've been better if some massive ring got fired and all the Unown within 25 000 light years got eradicated. And there was no Deoxys Ultimate Forme vs. Arceus like in the SA plans. Aggressive progression. I didn't want to bother explaining where that forme came from. And I think the partial successor/gimmick of SA will take that forme idea instead. Besides, the final battle is still 15000 words in total. Having it span over a total of 3 chapters of 10000 words each like in the original plans would've been absolutely brutal.**

**Whew. There, the listings of SA milestones, in my view.**

**And now, FINALLY, SA is officially over! … Over! … Over, I say! Right? … … Why isn't it ending? It should be ending… … What? There's still a chapter left? Son of a…**

**Coming up next: the final chapter of SA! For real, this time.**


	42. Forward Unto Dawn

**I was going to wait at least 1 more week before updating this, but the hell with it. Time to pull the trigger.**

**Welcome to the very last chapter of SA. For real, this time though. Ever see those movies or games where there's an additional scene or playable level after the credits? Same idea here. The "credits" being the end-of-the-series-notes and stats of SA milestones at the end of the last chapter. I've done it once before in one of the anime based stories (the one that got deleted) and it's the idea behind the Post Endings of SE and SR. And in most of those scenes, there are hints of sequels, for some reason. Perhaps the whole "open ending" thing forces the creators to make something from it.**

**Now, apparently I said something about SA2 in the last chapter. I was supposed to say that here instead. But damn it, this is what happens if I write while 2/3 asleep. On the other hand, I'm quite surprised that the second half of the last chapter actually made sense. Again, that was written while 2/3 asleep. Disaster averted. Whew.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 37Epilogue: Forward Unto Dawn

October 27th…

It's been over two months since the battle against the controlled Arceus and the clones of the Sinnoh Legendary Dragons. The Dex Holders were getting their long deserved rest. While a vast majority were relaxing and enjoying the peace, some remained restless. Emerald had volunteered to help repair/rebuild Earl's Academy in Violet City. Originally, Crystal was going to help out, but Emerald had decided to take her place due to her injuries. Though her shattered leg was healing quickly, she still needed a pair of crutches which prevented her from doing anything physically strenuous. In Johto, Silver was wandering around, absolutely convinced that Blue was out there somewhere. Arceus had revived her, but because Green had agreed that her memories should be wiped clean, the Kanto girl was nowhere to be seen.

…

Viridian Forest, 12 pm…

…

Yellow stared at Red as the Kanto champion dozed off on the ground. He was supposed to be fishing with her, but had fallen asleep within 10 minutes. So now, instead of fishing, Yellow put away her fishing rod and took out her sketchbook. She looked at Red again and began to draw. But as she drew the Kanto champion's sleeping face (more specifically, his closed eyes), Yellow couldn't help but think of the battle with Arceus in which Red died. The expression he had now was identical to the one he had after his sacrificial dive.

Yellow set her sketchbook on the ground and wiped away the tears on her eyes. They weren't tears of sadness, but rather, relief. Sure, she would be reminded of the same event every time she looked at Red sleeping (for quite some time, anyway), but it was all over. Red had been revived, he said he loved her too, and that's all that mattered.

After putting her stuff away in her bag, Yellow walked over to Red and lied down beside him. She moved his left arm so that she could use it as a pillow. The Kanto champion slept like a rock, so there were no worries of waking him up. Yellow rested her head on Red's arm and closed her eyes. For the first time in years, she knew that Red wasn't going to leave her for a while. With Red temporarily (or so she thought) replacing Green as the Viridian Gym Leader, the Kanto champion would be living/staying very close to her, and she would stay with him all day, every day. But for now, Yellow shook all thoughts away and tried to sleep in the nice cozy weather, in which everything was going perfectly…

…

Violet City, 12:20 pm…

…

Crystal carefully hopped out of the front door of her rebuilt house. Because of her busy lifestyle, she couldn't stand doing nothing in her home all day long. Sure, all of her friends _forced_ her to stay home to rest, but she was going to ignore them and help out at Earl's Academy. Besides, her shattered leg had almost fully healed. She had no excuse to stay at home and do absolutely nothing. But before she even took three steps outside, someone caught her.

"Hey, Super Serious Gal!"

Crystal spun around so quickly that it was a miracle that she remained standing. "Gold!"

The goggled boy was pushing an empty wheelchair and Crystal instantly knew what he intended to do with it. Though she detested the idea of sitting on a wheelchair again, she was still glad to see Gold, so she ran/hobbled up to him as fast as she could.

"Crys, what are you doing out of your house?" Gold asked. "I thought we told you to rest until your leg heals."

"I know, but I just can't stay home and do nothing all day long. That's just… not me," Crystal replied. "But what brings you here? And what are you doing with that wheelchair? You know I don't like those things."

"I know. I'm here to take you to the lake in Route 31. It's perfectly calm and quiet there, so it's going to be a nice stroll. It's a great day today, so I know you'll like it. So what do you say?"

"Um… can I go without the wheelchair?" Crystal asked.

"No. It's still going to be quite a long walk, so you're going to sit right here," Gold said as he tapped the wheelchair.

Crystal sighed. "Fine…" She carefully turned around and sat on the designated seat. She held onto her crutches as Gold moved her healing leg onto the extended leg of the wheelchair.

"Well, you agreed to this surprisingly quickly," Gold commented as he began pushing the wheelchair towards Route 31.

Crystal remained silent for a few seconds. "… I lost you once Gold," she said quietly. "I don't want to lose you again… I'll take every opportunity I have in spending time with you, even if it means I'm stuck helpless on a wheelchair."

"Relax, Crys. That kind of thing won't happen again. I promise."

"I know… I trust you, Gold."

"How's the leg, by the way?" Gold asked. His voice seemed to contain significant amount of concern and even guilt.

"It's a lot better," Crystal replied. "It still hurts a bit every now and then, but at least I can walk a little. And Gold… I really appreciate your concern, but… for the last time, this is not your fault. You were under control. What you did then wasn't really your doing. But I guess I should thank you for throwing me off the Sprout Tower instead of killing me there." Crystal smirked. "That sounded weird… but thanks anyways."

"So, Crys. Feeling better now? I heard you were… quite a mess."

Crystal smiled. "I'll be perfectly fine, Gold. As long as you're here." She looked up at Gold. "So, how are you doing? Have you recovered from that wound yet?"

Gold grinned. "Of course. I'm made of iron! Nothing can keep me down!"

Crystal reached up and simply poked him in the chest where the billiard cue had stabbed a couple of months before. Gold winced.

"Ow…"

"Oh, I thought you were made of iron," Crystal taunted.

"Cut your fingernails, Crys," Gold complained. "Or you might just cut me open again."

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Crystal soon let out a content sigh. "Ah, it feels so nice to be outside, just enjoying the peace."

"Sure is."

"Gold," Crystal called. "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to remove this cast and start walking again," she said as she put a hand on the cast wrapped around her healing leg. "And once I can walk and run, I'm going to train myself in Pokémon captures once again. And I'll need your help. It'll take many hours a day and for several days. Think you'll be up for it?"

Gold smiled and patted Crystal on the shoulders. "Of course, Crys. I don't want you to hurt yourself, so I'll be with you all day, every day, to make sure you're okay."

"Thanks, Gold." Crystal pulled Gold down to her level and kissed him. Afterwards, she let out another content sigh and looked straight ahead. "Alright, Gold. Let's go on that stroll."

"As you wish, Super Serious Gal."

…

Littleroot Town, 12:40 pm…

…

"Hey, Sapphire! … Sapphire!" Ruby yelled as he entered the little forest where Sapphire stayed camouflaged in the trees.

High above the ground, Sapphire heard him and clenched her hands into fists on instinct. '_He __**still**__ calls me… wait… what?_' She lightly shook her head and paid attention to Ruby.

"Sapphire! Where are you?"

'_Huh… he actually said my name this time!_'

Sapphire grabbed onto a long vine and slowly slid down to ground level. Ever since her death, she took significantly less risks from day to day. Not that she was afraid of death, but she didn't want Ruby to suffer like he did last time. Even right now, though her wounds created from that ShadowNet weapon have completely healed, she wasn't going to take any risks.

Ruby saw her and watched her as she slowly slid down to his level. Once her feet were firmly on the ground, the look of worry vanished.

"There you are, I've been looking for you," he said.

"Hi, Ruby. I'm surprised you actually called me by name," Sapphire said with a smile. "So what's up?"

"Well, we spent the last two months doing… basically nothing," Ruby said. "And now that we both fully recovered, how about we go somewhere? Do some sightseeing."

Sapphire grinned. "Asking me out on a date, are you? Since you asked so nicely, of course. Where do you have in mind?"

"We've been to Kanto and Johto, but not Sinnoh or Unova," Ruby answered. "Well, not for long in Sinnoh, anyways. We could go there and get our juniors to be our tour guides.

Sapphire crossed her arms and thought for a few seconds. "Hmm… Sinnoh was affected by the ShadowNet uprising and of course, the fight against Arceus. So… let's go to Unova! Black and White said Unova was really cool in some places and just beautiful in others. And I could use that time to help papa's research too."

"Speaking of research," Ruby said. "I heard from Crystal that Green's birthday is coming up. November 22. Since we all owe him for our revivals, we should go find him and throw him a party. We should have plenty of time in Unova for sightseeing before we head back to Kanto."

"Sure thing." Sapphire stretched her arms and let out a satisfied smile. "I guess we'll head for Slateport City tomorrow and just pack up today. But for now, let's go get something to eat. You're buying!"

…

Twinleaf Town, 1 pm…

…

Diamond and Pearl spent their day practicing their comedy act once again. Though Diamond was glad that his best friend had been revived and thus was glad to hang out with him again, there was another reason why he basically spent all day every day doing rehearsals.

But unfortunately, their comedy rehearsal was interrupted by their Pokédex resonating. Diamond froze. He spent the last two months only practicing comedy acts and had been purposely avoiding Platinum. After his third failed confession, things have been very awkward between them and it was clear that the heiress had been avoiding him too. And when Platinum sacrificed her life to save Diamond, things got worse. After the revival, the two Sinnoh Dex Holders have never even looked at each other.

For once, Diamond didn't want to see her or talk to her. He was actually afraid to see her. Especially today, since it was the girl's birthday. And he guessed that Platinum was afraid of seeing him too. But she was here now.

As Diamond stared at his Pokédex, Pearl gave him a pat to the shoulder before heading downstairs. Diamond's mother had already opened the door and Platinum stood in the doorway. Pearl stared at her and could see the nervousness and even guilt on her face. Platinum looked at him once before she looked down at the floor.

"… Hello, Pearl," she said quietly.

"… Hi, Miss Lady."

"Is Diamond upstairs?"

"And why do you want to know?" Pearl retorted.

Platinum looked even guiltier and appeared to shrink. "Please… I need to set things right…"

Pearl lightened his expression. "I know." He walked past her through the open door. "He's upstairs in his room. Good luck, Miss Lady."

Platinum nodded and entered the house. Pearl shut the door afterwards and headed home so that he could leave his two friends alone. Platinum took a deep breath and carefully ascended the stairs. She soon spotted Diamond's room and after a sigh, gently knocked on the door. There was no response, so the heiress knocked again after several seconds. After a few minutes of silence, Platinum opened the door and entered. She could see Diamond sitting on the couch, staring directly ahead at the blank screen of the television. The heiress quietly sat on the couch beside him, but in such a way that she would still have her back to him. She could tell that Diamond didn't want to talk to her, and quite honestly, she was still very afraid to talk to him too. She only came today because she felt that he wouldn't be cold to her on her birthday. She could only hope that everything would go according to plan.

"Hello, Diamond…"

"Hi, Lady," Diamond said with a sigh. His voice was cold but there were hints of warmth from before the third failed confession.

"Diamond… I – I just wanted to apologize and explain things. I am really sorry for acting the way I have."

"Lady, you walked away from me when I finally told you how I felt. And you didn't look back once." '_And… in the battle… you sacrificed yourself…_'

"When you said that you loved me, I… panicked. I did not know how to respond." Platinum rubbed her eyes to wipe away the forming tears. She still couldn't believe that she acted the way she did and felt rather ashamed. "I did not really understand the meaning of love. You were always so nice to me. And if you loved me, I thought… everyone who was nice to me also loved me. I just… panicked. Senior Red came to mind. Pearl came to mind. They were so nice to me too, just as you were. But I thought about it, and I talked to a few of my seniors. And I finally understand the meaning of love." The heiress slowly turned to glance at Diamond, partially afraid of his reaction. He still wasn't looking at her. She carefully put her hand on top of his for a second before she pulled away. "I love you too, Diamond. I really do. And as I realized, I always have."

Diamond quickly looked over at her. The heiress still had her back turned to him. Her hands were up to her eyes and she trembled quite a bit. He could see the bandages still wrapped around the girl's body in various places, and then recalled hearing that the heiress was having difficulty recovering from her previous injuries. Diamond knew that a person's wounds and injuries heal much faster if that person is very happy and has peace of mind. He could only guess at the mental turmoil Platinum had experienced for the past two months, seeing how she still hadn't recovered enough.

"You were always there for me," Platinum continued. "You always comforted me and took care of me. I always felt comfortable around you. I always wanted you around me, and I felt… happy around you. … I know I am telling you this too late. After what I did… I am not even sure if you want to see me again. Just thinking that you will no longer stay by my side hurts me too much. And this was because of my actions… Believe me, Diamond. I am extremely ashamed to even be in the same room as you. But before we part ways forever, I just wanted to tell you. I really love you." She let out a sob and rose to her feet. "Sorry… I know I overstayed my welcome. Please take good care of yourself…"

Diamond quickly reached for her, but she had already gone out of his arm's reach. Damn. Pearl had always said that he was way too slow… Diamond quickly (by his standards) scrambled up to his feet and chased her. By the time he even reached the stairs, Platinum had already left the house. He tried his absolute best to chase after her. But she was too fast for him.

Thankfully, the heiress still had difficulties in running. The injured bones from both falls from the Giratina made it physically difficult to run, and she hadn't recovered enough from being impaled by the Giratina copy, making it difficult to breathe at times. The revival only healed her just enough to prevent death, meaning she had to recover on her own. And she would have, if she made peace with Diamond a long time ago. She couldn't run for long and instead, chose to walk.

Diamond spotted the heiress near Route 201. She was trying to catch her breath, it seemed. And she seemed to be berating herself. Regardless, Diamond ran towards her. Platinum turned to face him when she heard his footsteps. She looked genuinely surprised, as if she honestly didn't expect him to run after her.

"… Diamond? What are you…"

"Lady!" Diamond said as he stopped right in front of her. His eyes met hers for the first time in months and he immediately recalled exactly how beautiful they were. But more importantly, he could see the tears welling in her eyes, and it just… hurt him to see them. But at least he could see the girl's sincerity, and how glad she was that he came after her. "Please don't go…"

"Diamond…"

"Lady," he muttered as he felt tears welling in his eyes. "… No matter what happens, no matter what comes between us, I will always love you. I always have, and I always will. Even if you don't love me, I will still love you. So, Lady, please… don't leave. I still love you!"

"… Are you sure?" Platinum asked as she pressed her hands over her heart.

"Yes. Please…"

Platinum hesitated and thought for several seconds but eventually smiled brightly and gave Diamond a gentle embrace. "Oh, Diamond… I missed you so much…"

Diamond sighed in relief and gently put his arms around the girl. "I missed you too."

The two Sinnoh Dex Holders remained in embrace for several seconds until Diamond pulled back. Platinum wiped away a tear but kept her bright smile.

"Lady," Diamond started. "If you loved me and missed me that much, why didn't you visit me earlier?"

"I was… afraid," Platinum answered honestly. "I realized that I loved you before our fight against Arceus. But I was afraid to talk to you because of how I acted. You looked so sad… I just felt too guilty. It was my fault. Because of that, I could not let you be harmed in the fight against Arceus, which was why I sacrificed myself to protect you. You always protected me without any regard to your own well being, and I wanted to return the favor. I tried to tell you that I loved you before I died, but I could not manage. And afterwards, I was afraid that I hurt you too much from my sacrifice. You said you loved me and yet you had to see me die. I just could not summon enough courage to face you."

"But… you changed your mind?"

"No. Today is my birthday," Platinum said. "I just thought that… even if you were still very upset, you would not be mean to me on my birthday. It was a silly worry, but… I was just scared."

"You're not anymore, though. Right?"

Platinum smiled again. "Correct. I have nothing to fear. I love you, and you still love me. That is all that matters."

Diamond summoned his courage and leaned in close. Platinum's cheeks flushed as she realized what was going to happen. She nervously pulled her head back, but actually took a step closer. She couldn't maintain eye contact and looked away, but held her breath in anxiety. Diamond gently leaned in even closer and kissed her on her soft lips. It wasn't his first kiss. It wasn't her first either. They both shared their first kiss months ago before the fight against Arceus. But that was a surprise sudden kiss that turned out disastrous. This time, it was anticipated and successful.

Platinum closed her eyes and kissed back. She didn't want the sensation to end. It felt… oddly different than the first kiss. Curious…

But a few seconds later, Diamond pulled back. He looked very happy now, and it made her happy to see him happy.

"… Thank you, Diamond," she said timidly.

"No problem, Lady," Diamond said. "Now… about your birthday… Happy birthday! Why don't you come and stay at my house? I'll make you a delicious cake. You can watch me and help me if you want, too."

"I would love to."

…

Nuvema Town, 1:20 pm…

…

Black stared through the windows to his house. He could see a large group of people gathered near the center of the town. They seemed to be a filming staff of some sort. But they didn't appear to have anything to do with the BW Agency. He hadn't talked to White in a few days. The last time he talked to her, she said that she had a big project she was working on and as such, wouldn't be able to spend time with him. She wasn't happy about it, but she did promise that she'd visit him in his hometown the moment she finished.

Black steadily headed outside of his house. He was kind of bored nowadays. The whole ordeal with ShadowNet and Arceus made him see how… naïve he was, thinking that he was a strong trainer. Like a Poliwag in a bottom of a well. Sure, it thinks it's the strongest in the world, but the moment it gets out of that well… There were plenty of others who were much better. And until Black decided that he was caught up, he put his Pokémon League dreams on hold. The League wasn't for a while, anyways. And until recently, he was training his Pokémon along with White. Their seniors may have taught Blast Burn and Frenzy Plant to Black's Emboar and White's Serperior, but it was up to the two Unova Dex Holders to train themselves to master the ultimate attacks. And for Black, battling against White without using Blast Burn was good training for himself and for the girl. And ever since White told him that she would be quite preoccupied with her special project, he had absolutely nothing to do.

Within a couple of minutes, Black arrived at the center of town and approached the group of people. As he approached, he could see that the group was indeed, a filming crew.

"Hey, Black!" a familiar female voice called from the filming crew.

Black stopped in his tracks and searched inside the crew. He soon spotted White walking over towards him. How did she see him coming? He waved at her anyways, rather surprised to see her.

"Hey, Miss President!"

White quickly ran towards him and immediately gave him a hug. "I'm so glad to see you again, Black! I missed you."

"Yeah. Me too. So what are you doing out here? I thought you had a big project."

White smiled and nodded. "I do. And you're looking at it."

Black went to observe the filming crew once more. It appeared that they were actually filming a movie (or at least setting up for a scene). "So… the BW Agency has moved from commercials and dramas to movies?"

White shook her head. "Nope. This is the Pokéstar Studios, specializing in movies. And I basically own it now. I'm their event planner!"

"Wow, congratulations, Miss President," Black said. "Or should I say, Miss Event Planner."

"Either one's fine, Black," White said with a smile. "I still own the BW Agency."

"Two companies, huh?" Black muttered. His expression darkened a little. "… So I guess I won't be able to see you as often, huh?"

White's expression darkened as well. "… Well… not necessarily," she muttered as she looked down at the ground. "Black, I don't want to be separated from you. But I don't want you to do something that you have no interest in. I know you still have your dreams. And I know that nothing will stop you from achieving it. But Black, I want you to know that I'll always find you whenever I have time to spare."

Black looked at White's face and noticed that a tear was falling from her eye. He wasn't exactly happy either, but seeing White sad made him feel worse. But a thought soon occurred and he explored that thought to see if there would be any complications.

"… Miss President," he said eventually. "… What if I worked for you in Pokéstar Studios?"

White perked up. "Huh? … Oh, um… I guess that could work… But I'm not sure if…" She shook her head soon. "No… I can't just hire you all of a sudden. There will be problems and arguments about how you didn't go through the proper hiring process and whatnot. It's not like the BW Agency where you had to work for me. Right now, you can work for me in the BW Agency because you have experience and so I can make a special arrangement, but in Pokéstar…"

Black grinned and took out the Pokéballs containing his Emboar and Braviary. "I have a plan, Miss President. After this, I'm going to _have_ to work for you, whether anyone likes it or not."

"… Black, what are you doing?" White asked.

"Think about the circumstances that forced me to work for you the first time," Black said. "… You might want to duck when you hear this coming."

White watched Black quickly running away from the filming crew. She soon realized what was going to happen. She smiled brightly from her friend's determination to stay with her, but at the same time… what the hell, this month's expenses were going to be pretty damn big.

She resumed with the filming but arranged the staff so that they'd have no troubles in getting the hell out of the way if a certain Fire type attack came out of nowhere. A few minutes later, White saw a Blast Burn coming from the direction of Black (who was 'training' right now so he'd have an excuse of using the attack) and headed towards the filming equipment. She quickly ordered all the filming staff to dodge and took cover as the ultimate attack hit and completely destroyed the filming equipment.

When Black came running over with a faked guilty expression, White could only sigh and smile at the same time. Sure, this month's expenses would be through the roof, but at least she'd be able to spend a lot more time with Black…

…

Pallet Town, 1:40 pm…

…

Green sighed as he stood in front of his house. Normally, he enjoyed peace, isolation (to a degree), and utter silence. But not this time. Sometimes, he wished that someone else had their memories wiped, but he knew that as the acting leader of the Dex Holders, it was partially his responsibility. Besides, he did believe that Blue would be better off if she didn't remember him at all. It was his decision, and he stood by it. And, with his life running out (less than a month now), having Blue's memories restored would just hurt her more anyways. He couldn't let that happen. Even though she may have forgotten everything about herself, at least she would be happy, wherever she was. Silver was still pissed off at him, but Green stood by his choice. It caused the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Green and Silver were unhappy, but Blue and everyone else were quite happy. If someone else had their memories wiped, Blue would be unhappy and those affected by the memory wipe would be unhappy too.

Maybe because his death was rapidly approaching, Green still had quite a lot of stuff to do. Upgrading the RLS system, getting Crystal to take over his research projects, teaching Red the layouts of the Viridian Gym (the Kanto champion was never at the Gym too, so that was a good start), and spending lots and lots of time with his family before it was too late. His sister Daisy was getting married in just over a month, and it hurt him horribly to know that he wouldn't be there to see it. He didn't tell her, of course. He couldn't. And he didn't want to think about what would happen once she found out on her own, or how hurt she'd be to know that he wouldn't be there for her wedding. All he could do was hope that his death would not be a jinx.

He still didn't tell anyone about his life running out. He didn't want to ruin the happiness of everyone else. Instead, he recorded a video message and made a little program to send the recorded message to Crystal if/when she began to investigate his sudden disappearance after November 22. A video-will, in essence, telling her about the sacrifice he had to make for the happiness of everyone, and that she would now be the acting leader of the Dex Holders (instead of Red, because the leader had to be responsible). Of course, he added a tiny section of personal matters at the end, telling Crystal to apologize to Daisy for him and to take care of Prof. Oak. That video would certainly be a shocker. And it would most likely promote lots and lots of guilt. But… it had to be done.

A bitter irony, for sure. Blue left an audio message for him in preparation for her death. A preparation to get her last thoughts out that just made him feel incredibly guilty. Now he was leaving a video message in preparation for his death, that would just make Crystal feel incredibly guilty. As long as she didn't follow his footsteps on this one…

Even though Green finished preparing for the inevitable and spent all of his time researching to keep his mind off of the impending death and its consequences, he felt… awfully lonely. Now that there was no one to bother him every now and then, he felt bored. With a sigh, the former Viridian Gym Leader started to walk. He didn't know where he was going to go. He just decided that walking in a random direction might do something to alleviate his boredom and perhaps even take care of his loneliness. And of course, take his mind off of his inevitable death. It was really sad to think about those close to him. Crystal promised that she would get him a great birthday gift to thank him for the revival of Gold. And it hurt him badly to know that her efforts would go to waste and that he couldn't tell her about his death to spare her the effort.

Psychologists could argue that he was just being selfish on this one. Crystal and the others would find out about his death sooner or later. It would make no difference. If anything, it would harm them more because he would've been dead by then. But Green just didn't want to see them sad and miserable. He wanted to let the happiness of everyone else extend until his death. And if that was selfishness, those psychologists could go screw themselves. He was going utilitarian on this particular decision.

15 minutes later, Green finally realized where he was headed. It seemed that he was headed towards Blue's old house. A bitter smile appeared on his face. Even his subconscious was thinking about her…

But when he got near the Kanto girl's old house, he could see something strange. It seemed that someone was moving into that place. There was a big moving truck parked near the house and various people and Pokémon were busy moving boxes and furniture into the house. Wondering who was moving in, Green stood by and watched. He walked closer in hopes that he'll be able to see better.

Suddenly, a girl appeared from behind the truck, struggling to carry a large box. She put the box in front of her feet and took a deep breath. Green froze. The white hat, long brown hair, black wristbands, sky blue sleeveless shirt, short red skirt, blue socks/leg warmers (apparently there was a distinction between the two) that reached mid-calf… undoubtedly, he was looking at Blue…

'_So this is where she was… Even though her memories were cleared, she still has her old preferences. She always missed Pallet Town and her old home…_'

Feeling his gaze, Blue looked at him. "Can I help you?" she asked, realizing that he was staring at her.

Green sighed. Her voice was sweet and beautiful as always… "Sorry," he replied rather sadly. "A very close friend of mine died relatively recently and you look quite similar to her." '_Of course she looks similar…_' he thought bitterly.

"Oh… I'm very sorry to hear that," Blue said with a sympathetic expression. She grunted as she tried to lift up the box. "Can you please help me?" she asked.

"Of course," the former Viridian Gym Leader replied without thinking. He only started to regret his decision when he lifted the box (didn't need Blue's help). The fact that he actually missed Blue and that she wouldn't remember him at all was too much. Being physically close to her for the first time in months wasn't helping at all.

"Oh, wow, you're pretty strong," Blue said with a surprised expression. "Well, since you don't need my help at all, I'll just show you where the box is supposed to go."

Green simply followed as Blue led him to her room. Upon entering the room, he put the box in the corner and looked over at the revived girl, who was busy looking around her new room.

"What's in that box anyways?" Green asked.

"Clothes, of course," Blue replied with a smile. "What else would end up in a girl's room that's that heavy?"

Green didn't reply. He simply smiled and shook his head slightly. '_Her personality hasn't changed…_'

Blue headed back outside so she could move a few more boxes and Green followed.

"What exactly made you want to move here?" the former Gym Leader asked once they were outside.

Blue looked around the calm neighborhood. "Pallet Town's calm, quiet, peaceful… And it's in Kanto mainland! There's so much stuff to do here compared to One Island."

Green smiled. "Of course. Pallet Town is great. Nice and calm, and yet close to busy cities such as Celadon if you have aerial transport."

The Kanto girl looked at him and stared at his face for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, but… do I know you?" she asked all of a sudden.

"What do you mean?"

"Your voice sounds so… familiar," Blue replied, with an expression that told Green that she was currently digging through her memories. "And you look so familiar too. It's almost as if I've known you for years… Have we met somewhere before?"

'_Of course we've met…_' Green thought rather miserably. He really wanted to tell her the truth, but he decided against it. '_No… she'll just think I'm crazy. And there's no point in trying to restore her memories now. It'll only hurt her._' "I don't think so." '_But how odd… she's not supposed to remember anything about me in any way…_' "When did you decide to move here?" he asked in an effort to change the topic.

"Well, kind of recently. Actually, I've been in a coma for a while and I only woke up a month ago. I can't remember much about what happened before. I might've decided to move here before and just forgot about it until recently." She shook her head and with a bright smile, she looked at Green. "But hey, Mr. No Name, as a way of thanking you for moving that box for me, how about we go and get something to drink? My treat."

Green looked away from Blue and her beautiful deep blue eyes. "Sorry, Blue," he said quietly. "I… have a few urgent matters to take care of…" '_… At least you're happy, Blue… That's all that matters. I know I made the right choice, because I've never seen you this happy…_'

Blue looked surprised. "How do you know my name?" she asked. "I don't recall telling you…"

Realizing his mistake, Green started to walk away rather quickly. "… Goodbye…" '_Take care of yourself, Blue… Please._'

Blue simply watched Green as he walked further and further away from her. She smiled the moment he disappeared from her sight. "I'm sure we'll meet again… … Green…"

* * *

><p><strong>The layout of this chapter is quite similar to the finale of SE. That's because SE's finale was based on this. While SE's finale had order by preference (with the bonus in the middle), SA's finale has order by generation, with Green &amp; Blue at the end for closure. I contemplated in just removing the Black &amp; White segment here, because… well, no one really cares about them, me included. Only a small handful seem to care, so having that segment would be a waste of effort. But, I won't leave anyone behind.<strong>

**Just so you get a sense as to how old this chapter is, I started to work on this prior to April 2012. Few bits were edited (such as addition of Black and White, Blue's complete memory wipe, etc), but all the deaths and the fact of revivals were unchanged except Diamond/Platinum. For point of reference, the 'infamous' SA cancellation alert (which also marks the end of the first half of SA) was in August 2012. Meaning, I started the epilogue way before SA even got to its half-point.**

**Regardless, I laid the foundation to SA2 with this chapter. Oh wait, a small bit's left.**

* * *

><p>Post Ending:<p>

Unknown location…

A man backed away from his microscope and glanced at the data streaming across his computer monitor. Having achieved breakthrough, he grinned and approached a small chalkboard that had the names of Kyurem, Regigigas, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, and Genesect written. Holding the fused piece of the Adamant and Lustrous Orbs in his hand, he put a check mark beside Kyurem on his chalkboard.

"Soon, Kyurem… you will return to your prime… to your _full_ power… _before_ Reshiram and Zekrom split off from you! And then you will be mine. With the restored power of the ancient Pokémon, I will rule the world, and no one will be able to stand in my way! Just wait, Kyurem. In a week, you will rise…"

* * *

><p><strong>That's right. A Post Ending of an epilogue. So a Post Ending of a Post Ending. Makes no sense. It's like a prologue to a prologue. Or a footnote to a footnote.<strong>

**But there. **_**Now**_** I laid the complete foundation to SA2. A bad guy has to appear somewhere and make his intentions known and even give the approximate time of uprising to absolutely no one via convenient yet random rambling. Meaning, in SA2, Green has approximately 3 weeks to fight the rising enemy before his timed death.**

**And to be clear, I only revived the dead Dex Holders last chapter because I wanted to advertise SA2. There can't be a sequel if over half of the Dex Holders (or at least the important ones) are dead. The alternate epilogue would feature the surviving Dex Holders finding… alternate ways of bringing back the dead. Some would appear as ghosts, with the help of a few Ghost type Pokémon. Some would have their personality, knowledge, etc gathered/recovered by Psychic types and then have that data compiled into AI matrices (collections of lies; just stolen thoughts and memories). But reviving them and then advertising SA2 offered me the simplest and the most half-assed solution to the dead-dilemma.**

**Oh, and something **_**very**_** important… SA2 will be the only story that I advertise that I will NOT be making. I have no desire to make the sequel for a story which I contemplated in cancelling at one point (makes sense if you think about it). You heard/read correctly. No SA2 from me. That's right. I advertised the crap out of SA2 with Green and Blue… only to say "no" at the end.**

**I may make successors which use points from SA and other stories, but there will be no direct sequel. … Which makes this whole preparation absolutely pointless. But this is to ensure that SA itself had a happy ending. And to make sure most of the Dex Holders have happy endings. But no. No SA2. No.**

**Now that SA is completely complete, I thank you all once more for reading this. And for those who are reading my other stories, I will see you there. Hopefully. For those who aren't, now's as good as time to start.**


	43. SA2 Preview

**July 7, 2014 Update:**

This "chapter" had been deleted and re-uploaded for one purpose only. Advertisement of SA2. It's live. But not by me, as I have said.

Since a lot of you follow (or HAVE followed) SA but not DE (where the first ad was dropped), I have "updated" SA just to send out the alert. Otherwise, only a tiny portion of you will know that the sequel exists. It is my obligation to drop ads. Now that you are here and are reading this:

Go to my Tumblr blog (go to my profile page, under Alternate Communications) to find the links to SA2 and its creator. Now that SA2 is live, ALL other permissions regarding SA or SA2 are revoked so that its continuity is not screwed with.

And for the record, I approve SA2, and I have NO idea what'll happen in it as I don't want any spoilers (so don't ask, if that was your intention). I don't know whether the Primal Hoenn Legendaries will have the same background as the ones in ORAS (speaking of which: I f*cking called it! Primal Legendaries! BOOOOM!), but it shall be interesting to find out.

Below is the original document of SA2 Preview. I believe all the events mentioned will occur in SA2, but that can be changed.

* * *

><p><strong>After much contemplation, I decided to… not make SA2. No decisions were changed. Ahahahahahaha…<strong>

**Ahem. Anyways, I did, however, decide to post a preview of what SA2 would feature, should it suddenly exist. Very short, and of course, doesn't show **_**all**_** that's going to happen. That'd make it a summary. Quote based, in no particular order. Since this is merely a preview, it will not be counted as a chapter. So this is not SA #038: SA2 Preview. This is… well, nothing. And as such, this will have no impact whatsoever to the statistics section on my profile.**

**There has been a **_**very**_** important update on my profile page. Check under "Alternate Communications". Long story short, I now have a Tumblr account/blog. Yay.**

* * *

><p>SA2 Preview:<p>

Green-recording: "Sorry, Crystal. In order to have all the fallen Dex Holders revived, I had to sacrifice myself. My death is timed to be on my birthday. Which is why I had to leave before then. Crystal, you are now the leader of the Dex Holders. Take care of yourself. Apologize to sis for me. I can't be at her wedding. And take good care of my grandfather and… Blue."

Silver: "Sis! … Sis!"  
>Blue: "… You talking to me?"<br>Silver: "Sis! I finally found you!"  
>Blue: "What are you talking about?"<br>Silver: "… So it's true…"  
>Blue: "Wait… … I… I saw you somewhere… before… … S… Sil… … No, that's crazy! Sorry, I must've mistaken you for someone else."<p>

Blue: "What's going on?! I – I've never seen any of you before! But… But how do I _know_ you?!"

Crystal: "… Primal Groudon? Do you mean Groudon has reverted back to the time when it created continents and feuded with Kyogre all those millennia ago? Wait… _and_ Primal Kyogre and Primal Rayquaza? Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald! Can you do something about them?"  
>Ruby: "… We can't! Sapphire and I no longer have the Orbs' powers inside us!"<p>

Ruby: "It's gone. Lilycove City is completely destroyed by Primal Groudon."

Sapphire: "Sootopolis is gone too. Primal Kyogre is way too strong."

Emerald: "Pacifidlog and Slateport have been obliterated by Primal Rayquaza. Sorry, Crystal. We tried, but they're far stronger than they were during the Arceus event."

Black: "Icirrus City is destroyed! Kyurem… it's back to its full strength! _Before_ Reshiram and Zekrom split off from it! It destroyed the entire city with one Dragon Pulse…"

Crystal: "So we currently have the _complete_ Kyurem wreaking havoc in Unova, a young Regigigas pulling cities out of the ground in Sinnoh, Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Primal Rayquaza destroying Hoenn, and a living resurrected _swarm_ of Genesect in Johto…"

Red: "You're ready for this, Crys. Green trusted you."  
>Crystal: "But… after what happened last time…"<br>Red: "That wasn't your fault."

Blue: "Hey, you! … Hey!"  
>Red: "… Me?"<br>Blue: "Yes. Please. Tell me… … _Who_ am I?! What happened to me?!"  
>Red: "Platinum? Bring that notepad of yours and give it to Blue."<br>Platinum: "Yes senior."  
>Red: "Blue, listen. You… used to be one of us. Everything you've done until the hellacious event a few months ago is written on the notepad. And since then… it's a long story."<p>

Crystal: "Green! I'm so sorry… I should've gotten over Gold's death like you told me… like Red told me. Because of me… because I kept mourning… you… sacrificed yourself? Green, how could you leave us like this?"

Red: "Blue! You're back!"  
>Blue: "… Red, is it over? ShadowNet… the other enemy…"<br>Red: "Yes. It's over. We're currently in another mess, but ShadowNet and Storc are no more."  
>Blue: "… … If I've been revived… what about my parents?"<br>Red: "… Sorry, Blue."  
>Blue: "… And Green?"<br>Red: "…"  
>Blue: "Red?"<br>Red: "… He loved you, Blue. That's the important thing…"  
>Blue: "… Where is he? What happened?"<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Mark my words. I will <strong>_**never**_** make SA2. Admittedly, I'm currently taking the exact same steps as my first story, the one based on the anime. Ended it, credits, after-credits scene that teased a sequel, posted a preview chapter, then made the sequel. But that sequel went absolutely horribly, to the point of discontinuation. So it stands to reason that I don't make SA2. I can still tease the crap out of it, which is what I'm doing and what I will do through the other stories.**


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